How To Become a Dragon Chief
by warorpeace
Summary: An overprotective raven-haired girl, a deceptive dragon, and a misfit with a secret, What could possibly go wrong? The the road of how Hiccup went from the misfit outcast of the Hairy Hooligans to the famed Dragon Whisperer was not straight nor even. Heather discovers a new side of Hiccup as he ascends, but not without discovering secrets the boy wished to keep hidden...
1. Chapter 1

_**author's note:**_

_**Hello fellow readers. This is my firsf attempt at writing a fanfiction. The idea came after reading a couple of fanfictions that had Heather in it. finally, after Cke1st enormous support, i decided to write down the idea and publish it. Enjoy the story!**_

_**disclaimer: How To Train Your Dragon, it's characters, plot and universe all belong to Dreamworks Studio and Cressida Cowell. **_

Hello. For those wondering who I am, let me introduce myself. My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, or Hiccup for short. Where I live, I'm also known as Hiccup "the Useless", a title affectionately given by my cousin Snotlout. Yeah, you probably figured by now how our relationship is. I'm also known as Hiccup "The Inventor" by my mentor, Gobber the Belch. I am his blacksmith apprentice, or I was, since I learned everything he could teach me. Somehow I learned in just a couple of years what would have taken a decade to most, and since then I've been more of an assistant there, which, together with my excessive thinking, allowed me to create various kinds of stuffs. Most of which backfired at me.

That, and the usual injuries a blacksmith sustain led me to win a third "title", as Hiccup "the Reckless", given by none other than the healer's apprentice Heather, a raven-haired beautiful girl with the most amazing green eyes I've ever seen, since their green looks like the green of the healthiest trees you could ever find in our forests… well, that's enough about her for now.

Now that you know who I am, it's time to know where I live. This is Berk. It's twelve days North of Hopeless, and a few degrees South of Freezing to Death. It is located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. In a word: sturdy. We Vikings have a sense of comradeship, and most people in my village know and help each other, as it has been for seven generations. Most of the time, when your insides are not freezing, it is a peaceful place. Except for the pest problem. You see, when you think about pests, you might think of rats, or mosquitoes, or other similar kind of pests, but here on Berk we have….

"DRAGONS!"

In a desperate attempt to avoid being burned alive, I slammed the door right after spotting the charging flame towards my house, barely managing to do it. You would think we would have already left here after finding out this problem, but we're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues. After opening the backdoor I saw a dragon flying with a Viking smashing his face with a mace, which kind of proves my point of stubbornness.

I ran through the village while trying to avoid the incoming flying reptiles. As I ran through, I could hear the adults shouting at me things like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE" "GET BACK INSIDE" since well, as I was skinny and lack muscles, being outside on a dragon raid was hardly something safe, or sane to do. I kept running, ignoring the shouts until I was yanked off the ground by a huge hand, briefly before the passage which I was going through was overrun by flames of a passing dragon.

"Hiccup! What is he– what are you doing out here?! Get inside!" I briefly stared at the huge, red bearded man while he shouted at me, before pulling me back to the ground. The man was Stoick the Vast, chief of our tribe. They say when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head right off his shoulders. If I believe that? Of course I do, he was one of the fiercest dragon fighters, and leader we ever had.

After this event, I kept going to my destination, which was the blacksmith. By some kind of twisted luck, I managed to get inside just before a dragon ran through leaving a trail of flames. I started at the huge Viking before me, which grinned before speaking

"Oh, nice of yeh to join the party" he said while busy at the anvil, repairing a warped sword. "I thought you'd have been carried off"

I replied, with my usual dose of sarcasm. I suspected the man actually liked teasing me for he knew I always would make a sarcastic reply: "who me? No, I'm waaay to muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all of this" I finished and tried, and failing, to flex my nearly non-existent muscles.

"Well, they do need toothpicks, don't they?" he asked jokingly, before replacing his hammer with one of his tongs. I forgot to mention that he had lost two limbs fighting dragons. One of them was replaced by a wooden peg-leg, while his left arm was replaced by a contraption which allowed him to place various types of tools, ranging from his tongs, to a mug to even a adapted double-head axe. Now he was changing his hammer to a tong to fix the sword.

Meanwhile I ran to open the window, and was met with a pile of broken weapons. I took all of them to the forge and started heating it, so they could be repaired. As I heated it, I looked through the window and saw a dragon blast a house, setting it on fire. Shortly after, a couple of teenagers ran with baskets to put out the fire.

The muscular one, not very tall, with dark hair and a helmet was Snotlout, my cousin as you already know. The big husky one with a small helmet, blond hair was FIshlegs. We used to be friends when we were little (well he, I was just 'littler') but then we grew up and he got distant of me so he could be accepted on their group. Though he was one of them now, I never saw him teasing me when my cousin did it. The two identical twins are Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They are both tall, have very long hair and, although skinny as I am, both of them are quite strong, perhaps because of their constant fighting. And the last one is…

"Astrid…" I said as I sighed. She was like a Valkyrie sent straight from Asgard. She was taller than I, and had a beautiful braided blond hair, with some bangs that covered her left eye. Her eyes… they were a beautiful ocean blue that would melt anyone who looked at it, either for their beauty, or their fierceness.

As I leaned to see them pass through, Gobber yanked me off the window so I would go back to work.

"Gobber, will you please let me out? I need to make my mark" I complained as he set me on the ground again, and then he rolled his eyes.

"Yeh made plenty of 'em. All in the wrong places. And Gods know how Heather get mad at yeh every time yeh make one" he remarked, since every time I "made a mark" I ended up injured and visiting her so I could be patched up. Sometimes I accidentally managed to injure someone else, which then would make me earn a smack in the head from her.

Ignoring all of this, and before he could continue lecturing me I replied: "Please, just a couple of minutes, you won't even notice. I'll kill a dragon and my life will get infinitely better. Hel, I might even get a date killing one."

Gobber snorted and then started listing on his fingers: "yeh can't lift a hammer, can't swing an axe, yeh barely can hold a shield, and can't even throw one o' these" he finished lightly waving a bola, only to be caught by a Viking and then thrown at a flying dragon, plumbing it to the ground.

"I know I can't do these things, but…" I said as I moved near a wooden container "…this will throw it for me" I finished patting the wood, which unfortunately made the box open, to reveal a contraption which resembled a pair of long bows tied together, and launched a bola at the Viking that was waiting on the window for a weapon. Shortly after he hit the ground, unconscious…

"Hiccup, if yeh want to kill a dragon, yeh need to stop bein' all of this" he said to me as he gestured to me with his hand and tong.

"You just gestured to all of me…" I replied sarcastically, knowing very well where the conversation was going. We already had those one too many times, mostly every time I made a mark as he would say.

Sadly, sometimes he fails to notice my sarcasm, now being one of those…" Yes, that's it! Stop bein' all of you!" he replied, rather satisfied that I got what he meant.

In a last attempt to try to prove my worthiness this night, I tried to look intimidating as I spoke: "You, sir, are playing a dangerous game… Keeping this raw- Viking-ness and force contained. There will be consequences!"

Then again, I'm good at being sarcastic, but I've never been at being intimidating. Mainly because of my size. Because of this, he just looked at me as if I had just told him an awful joke and replied bored: "I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now" he finished, handling me a dulled sword.

I went to sharpen it, as the battle outside raged on. If one could stop to watch it without getting blasted, they would notice several kinds of dragons raiding.

A Deadly Nadder would surely get me noticed, at the very least. Though very bird-like, this kind of dragon had the hottest fire known to us, along with a tail full of poisonous spikes to throw at first sight. They, like the birds they resembled, were very agile, making them a worthy opponent on a battle.

A Snaptrapper would get Astrid's attention on me. Because of their 4 heads, the dragon almost had no blind spot, and fighting it one-o-one was surely though, as each head would have different tactics of attack. Also, as their name says it, they are more of an ambushing dragon than fighting one, mainly because they can't survive losing more than a head.

A Scauldron would surely get at least Dad happy. These giant sea dragons, though not adapted to walk, could still make some serious damage, by shooting boiling water from their cauldron-like stomach.

A Gronckle is tough. Getting one would surely get me a nice girlfriend. They looked and flied like giant bumblebees, but with a very thick armored skin, and a bludgeon as a tail. They were the main reasons of why every raid we always had tons of swords to fix and sharpen.

A Hideous Zippleback. One word: Exotic. They have two heads, which meant twice the status to anyone who would get one. One of the heads release a flammable gas, and the other make sparks, lighting it up. Because of this, they were very good at making ambushes, or blowing up houses from the inside, rather than the outside.

And at last, the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the very best would got one-on-one with these dragons, Dad being one. They had the nasty habit of lighting themselves on fire, making bolas and conventional nets useless. To capture one either a Viking knocked it out, or would trap it with a metal net. That's why only the best went after them.

As I returned to reality, I noticed the sword was already sharpened. I handled it to Gobber. Before he could say anything a piercing screech was heard through the entire village, coming from the sky itself. Every Viking looked at the sky in panic, and started yelling "NIGHT FURY" "GET DOWN" before ducking. At the same time a giant burst of blue flames erupted at one of the catapult towers, bringing the whole thing down.

The Night Fury, unholy offspring of lighting and death itself. It was the ultimate prize that every Viking could ever dream. As dark as night, no one have ever seen one, and at every raid he shows up, he never steals any food and, most importantly, never misses.

Another catapult was blown by the huge burst of blue flames as Gobber changed his tong to the modified double axe, and before leaving he turned to me. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They sure need me now out there. Stay. Put. There. Yeh know what I mean" and then he left.

Since I was alone at the forge, and every Viking would be ducking or running for cover or retreating, either with the sheep or captured dragons, I knew no one would come to the forge. And since my Mangler (the bola-shooting wooden contraption of earlier) was finally complete, I decided, totally disregarding my safety or Gobber's words, that I would capture it this night.

I took the Mangler with me as I went off the forge to a nearby cliff, where I could get a clear shot. As I went through, I saw Vikings running like headless chickens, some asking "where are you going?" or "Is he nuts? Get back inside!" but I ignored all of it.

As I reached the cliff, I armed and reloaded the Mangler, waiting patiently for the Night Fury to pass my aim. I cautiously watched the skies. Then, after what felt like hours, I noticed some stars blacking out of the skies, only to latter show up again. I immediately knew what that meant, and aimed to it, just waiting for the Night Fury to roam near the cliff. Then his signature screech erupted from the skies, before he hit a unmanned catapult. Immediately after the blast, I aimed and shot in blind faith, hoping that the bola would hit it, while the recoil had thrown me to the ground. As I got up, I heard a panicked roar, which signaled that I had, indeed, hit my target.

"I hit it? YES, I hit it!"I screamed, feeling victorious, and then noticed a small blue dot getting bigger and bigger and closer to me. I stopped just in time my victorious rant to duck before the blue ball of fire, not nearly as big as the last ones, hit the bola launcher and shattered it to pieces. Briefly checking for injuries, I noticed a stack of wood stuck in my leg. I quickly removed it. Weirdly I was not feeling any pain, perhaps because of the adrenaline of the moment, and got up.

"Oh man, still, did anyone see that?" I turned around, only to find no one. But then I felt hot air passing through my head and neck. Rather disappointed, I turned to find myself face-to-face with a Nightmare

"Except you…" I said, deadpanning, before running and screaming like I never had before so I wouldn't be burned alive, or become a Nightmare's supper. After running and screaming a while, the absent pain from the wound became very present, making me scream more from pain, as I still kept running for my life, rather than from terror or having a Nightmare on my heels.

In my last attempt to protect myself, I hid behind a wooden pole with a metal base, before a wall of flames went through it. Luckily I was unharmed from the flames, and after they suddenly stopped, I decided to peek from my right to see if the dragon was still there. Before I could turn left, Stoick flew at my side, getting the Nightmare away from me (which I didn't notice it was nearly touching me) and started to fight it. The dragon tried to flame, but failed, as I heard him mumble "you're all out" and punched its face 3 times before it flew away.

As he came near the pole, which went down because of the flamed base and with it the giant flaming bowl, he looked at me disappointed, as destruction was caused by the bowl. That's because I forgot to tell you one thing…

"Sorry, Dad"

We stood silent, watching some Nadders that were freed by the bowl fly away with lots of sheeps. To break the awkward silence, and to avoid thinking of the huge pain in my right leg which was bleeding now, I (stupidly) spoke:

"Ok, but I hit a Night Fury" and was immediately yanked by the back of my coat toward my house, by him. "Come on, it's not like last few times Dad, I really actually hit it. You guys were busy, and I used the Mangler at the cliff to shoot it. He went down near Raven Point, if we only send a search par…"

I never finished trying to reason with me as he abruptly stopped and shouted: "STOP… just stop. Every time you step outside disasters follows. Can't you see I have bigger problems?! Winter is coming, and I have an entire village to feed!"

Seeing the crowd gather near us, and to lighten the mood I spoke: "Well between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding huh" it obviously was a joke to their weight, since every Viking in the village was big. Not nearly as big as dad or Gobber, but they were big nonetheless. Obviously they didn't take it very well, as many of them held their hands in their stomachs while looking at it.

"This isn't a joke Hiccup, for Odin's beard!" for some reason, he didn't get the joke, so I waited silent for him to finish, before she would get here. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself dad! I see a dragon and I just have to kill it! It's who I am, it's who you want me to be…" and my voice trailed off. I was upset that he still didn't see I just wanted his approval.

He saw my face but, before he could say anything, a thunderous shout came from behind me: "HICCUP". 'dah dah dah, I'm dead' was the first though in my mind.

As I turned, I saw Heather before me; with the usual 'very angry and worried' face she had every time I went outside on a raid, or tested one of my inventions.

"Really Hiccup? A Nightmare on your heels? What in Midgard were you thinking?" and before I could reply her so she didn't skin myself alive, the pain on my leg stung like a thousand spears had hit it.(I always tried hard to not show any pain for anyone. At least on this I was a Viking, and for some reason, she was the only one that ever noticed these subtle changes. Either the rest didn't care, or it is because of years being patched up by her)

She saw the subtle change in my expression because of the pain and her expression immediately softened. "don't tell me you got yourself hurt again Hiccup?" she asked in this sweet tone that always disarmed any kind of sarcastic reply I could make as she crossed her arms around her chest. The only answer I could give her now was the truth… "Right leg…" I mumbled and she peeked at it, before running toward me, grabbing my right arm and putting around her shoulder.

"Here, lean on me, your leg is pretty bad, and you shouldn't put pressure on it" she said, the sweet tone completely gone and in its place a very worried on, as I extended my arm around her shoulders. "Come on Heather, it's not that bad" but then she cut me abruptly: "YES IT IS… you'll be lucky if you don't need a cane for the rest of your life Hiccup, now lean." her voice was a mixture of my Dad's commanding tone and her sweet one as she spoke. Seeing this as a signal that I am really messed up, I silently obeyed her.

Before going to the Healer's hut she spoke to dad: "Sir, I'd like if you could finish talking to him later, he really needs to patch up his leg, before it gets worse. He already pushed it too far running from the Nightmare. I really don't know how he did it or how he is not screaming his lungs in pain right now" I thought she said the last part to put some credit for me. Vikings do not show pain as everyone knows, but when she speaks like that it gives me some pride that I can manage the pain.

As I looked to dad, waiting his command to go to the healer, I saw a mixture of pride and worry and mostly confusion in his face. He probably didn't even notice the wound. He took a few seconds to speak "Ok Heather, if it is this bad then go to the healer, we'll finish this talk later. Gobber! Make sure he gets to the healer" as we begun to walk to the healer, Gobber came up behind me and gave a light smack in my head for disobeying his orders back at the forge. As we walked to our destination, we passed by the teens, and Snotlout couldn't pass the chance to humiliate me.

"Great work Useless. I never saw someone mess up so badly" he chuckled. "Yeah, quite the performance. We couldn't do better if we wanted" said Tuffnut and his sister nodded, agreeing with him. Either agreeing, or complimenting the destruction I caused, since they pretty much loved causing mayhem.

"Thank you, thank you, I was trying" I said in an attempt to defend myself. But before we were gone I mumbled "at least now I've got a battle scar…" Immediately Snotlout's smile vanished from his face, as he demanded: "what did you say Useless?" but before he could do anything, Gobber came up and smashed him to the ground.

I briefly glared at Fishlegs and Astrid, the only ones that never teased me. For him I knew his reasons, as for her I had no idea. We used to be friends when we were children, and she even punched Snotlout when he begun teasing me, but then she grew distant with the rest and now hardly acknowledge my existence, only doing so to criticize my actions. The weird thing was when I looked at her, I saw behind her fierce mask some… worry? And… she looked like she was a little sad? Perhaps… no, I just lost too much blood and now I am raving. Yes, definitely raving.

As we arrived to the healer, I spoke to Gobber before he left. There were too many things to repair around the village, and Gobber had to help "I really hit one Gobber. He never listens to me" "runs in the family eh?" he teased me, and I knew what he meant. "And when he does, it is always with a disappointed scowl, like someone spit in his stew."

As Heather let me go to open the door, I buffed my chest, and did my best impression of dad:"Excuse me, barmaid! I I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy, with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the sides. This here, this is a talking fishbone!" he chuckled at my good impersonation.

"Now Hiccup. Yeh're thinking about this all wrong. It is not so much what yeh look like, it's what yeh are that he can't stand" as he said that, and I didn't know if he was trying to help, or just being plain honest. Perhaps it was both. "Thank you for summing that up" I replied sarcastically.

He sighed before speaking again "Look, the point is: stop trying so hard being someone yeh're not." Feeling rather upset, and tired, and defeated I moaned before entering the hut "I just want to be one of you guys…" and then I closed the door. I knew Heather would be upset with me because of my injuries, and the quicker I went with it, the quicker I could go search the Night Fury. So I just went and sat in one of the beds, waiting as she had gone to fetch some bandages and herbs.

* * *

_**AN II: this chapter was slightly edited from the original. No plot changes though.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's note: this chapter might be shorter than the first one as it focus mainly on the relationshp between Hiccup and Heather. as the story progresses, fewer events will happen similarly to the movie. this was my first attempt at entirely deviating from the movie script, so any kind of constructive criticism is very much welcome. Without further ado:_**

After a couple of minutes, she came toward me, holding a lot of bandages and herbs, looking rather upset at me. 'Great, everyone is upset with me today' I thought. She placed these items on a table nearby and took a chair to sit near me and motioned for me to lie down on the bed so she could look at my wounded leg.

I spoke after complying with her silent request: "thank you for giving me some credit back there. At least I can hold pain like a Viking would. At least I'm not a failure to my father on this…" and the will to continue speaking suddenly vanishing.

Heather, while hearing me, sighed after I finished. She was looking at my leg and cleaning it for a moment, before she stood and took some herbs and put into the water to boil it and later apply in my wound. While she waited for the water to boil, she spoke to me: "Hiccup… listen, I did not speak that to give you credit to your father or anyone else. The wound is rather deep, and it is a miracle your muscles didn't tear apart after your stunt. I'll apply some paste and put some bandages on it, but you'll need to use a cane for a while… you know, while it heals, unless you want a matching set with Gobber." The last part was really not surprising. Years getting patched by her and talking to her might have gotten her rubbed with my sarcasm, a little at least.

I looked at her, then at my leg. I knew very well what she meant. Either I wouldn't be able to go find the Night Fury today, or I would have to go with a cane, which meant that if it was alive and loose I wouldn't be able to run from it, or at least try since nobody knew if it was as fast on the ground as it is in the air.

I slowly laid down, the events of today finally catching me up and the adrenaline of both hopefully catching a Night Fury and running from a flaming Nightmare wearing off along with the increased pain as she put some paste on my leg, then wrapped it. After finishing it, she went to wash her hands, and put away the unused bandages, while I slowly drifted off to sleep.

A while later I woke up feeling a soft hand running through my face, a delicate thumb caressing my forehead as her palm laid at my left cheek. For some reason I didn't open my eyes, instead I tried to move myself to be more comfortable. Suddenly the hand was gone from my face and I heard a long yet quiet sigh. I slowly opened my eyes, still feeling sleepy, to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, hands in her lap, and looking rather blankly at the ground. We stood like this for a while, neither finding any reason to break the almost visible silence.

After what felt like hours fear started to rise within me, fear that her blank look meant she was thinking about her parents. She was very young when they came to live in Berk, and shortly after she began her apprenticeship the healer, a little after Gobber had me as his apprentice, a big raid happened and her parents went missing.

Some said they deserted, others said they were burned by the dragons, and a few even thought the dragons carried them away, like they did with my mother. Ever since she has been living with the healer, and though mostly every male teen in Berk would hit on her or ask her for a date, she did not have many friends and that's why she wasn't part of the group that teases me.

Her relation with me, though, was messy to me and was also another reason she didn't join the group. Sometimes she acts like a friend; some as if she was my mother, and sometimes, though rare, she would act like Fishlegs and Astrid do, ignoring me all day. A few times, though, I could have sworn she acted like I was her crush.

So to break the silence I decided to speak: "Heather…? Is something bothering you? You can talk to me, you know that, and after all, we're alone here" I gestured to the hut, while she looked at me surprised; I blinked twice before realizing what I said. Quickly I tried to correct myself: "No! no, no, no, no" I slapped my head at my stupidity "not um… like that you know.. I just meant that… that no one will bother you…" I spoke, heavily stammering due to my embarrassment.

She laughed a little at Hiccup's desperation, holding a light blush on her cheeks that the boy missed, before finally replying: "I know Hiccup; I understood what you meant before. You can relax. It's just that…" she trailed off for a few seconds, probably trying to sort into words what was going on inside her head. "that I don't get why you act like that, Reckless"

'ok, so she spoke the title she gave me, so that means I messed up badly this time and was upset with me big time.' Was the first thought that crossed Hiccup's mind that moment.

She then looked me in the eyes, like a mother would do after her child did something wrong. Because of her green eyes, I'd feel sometimes like it was Mom looking at me, that is, if she was here. She disappeared the same night her parents did, perhaps that's why we find comfort with one another talking.

She spoke again, in her sweet tone "you act like you have nothing to lose, that proving to your father and the village you're a Viking is more important than your own safety; or act like nobody cares about you, that no one would miss you if you were gone. Gobber cares about you; to him you're like the son he never had. I care about you, you're the only real friend I have here, the only one that somewhat understands, the only one that hears me when I need to talk, the only one that I do not need to show a mask of pretty smiles and little lies. You really got me worried today. Had not Stoick caught the Nightmare in time, or I had seen your wound, I don't know what could have happened…" her voice broke as tears started to mount in her eyes…

She hugged herself and closed her eyes so she wouldn't cry… so I wouldn't see her cry. I sat up and embraced her in a gentle hug, which she briefly resisted, before giving in and sobering quietly in my shoulders. I tried to sooth her, guilt pilling up in my heart as she was crying mostly because of me. Because my relentless quest to bring down the mighty dragon today cost me greatly. "Shh… its okay, I'm here, I'm here. They didn't take me away, they never will. I won't let them do it" I said gently as I patted her back, assuring her that I'd never leave.

"P-promise me… t-that you won't do anything like that again. Please, promise it to me" she nearly begged as she regained her breath and ended the hug to look at me, tears still falling through the cheeks of her beautiful face. Defeated, both from guilt, and from the scene before me, I complied with her"I promise. If it makes you feel better I promise." She seemed to be calmed as I promised.

Trying to lighten the mood, I changed the subject "So, any idea how long I'll be here before I can walk again?" I needed to know, even though I promised her to be more careful, I'd still search for the Night Fury. If I really tangled it, it wouldn't be long before the dragon starved to death, and both I wanted to kill it myself and didn't want it to die like that. There is no worse or more painful death than from starvation.

She looked at me, as if she knew why I had asked such a thing, and then answered: "Well, you'll sleep here tonight so I can keep a close eye on your wound, and change the bandages. Tomorrow morning you'll be free to go, but I'd like if you use the cane for a couple of days. You stressed your leg enough; we don't need it getting worse. I'll talk to Gobber so while you're recovering he doesn't pile you with work at the forge." she answered. I thanked her as I laid down again, my body begging to sleep. I slowly closed my eyes, the last thing I saw before sleeping was Heather sitting in the chair looking at me…

I woke up feeling a lot better, the pain almost gone. I yawned as I sat, looking to the window to know what time it was. Seeing the first rays of day coming through the horizon, I got up, wincing a little as pain came from my leg, though not nearly as strong as before. I saw Heather lying in a bed next to mine, half covered in a fur blanket.

I slowly went there, adjusting it so she wouldn't feel colder until she awakes, then grabbed the cane she placed at the table where the bandages were earlier, wrote a note, left her some cooked breakfast and silently left the hut. Cane in one hand, notebook on another and my favorite knife with me, I went to pursue the trapped dragon. Since winter was near, and the cane would surely slow me down, I went to search for it immediately, as time was precious. Daylight only remained for a few hours on winter. My destination: Raven's Point.

Heather woke up feeling a little tired. She stood for hours looking for Hiccup; to be sure he had a peaceful sleep. She honestly didn't know how he coped with the pain he must have felt. As she felt tired, she took a moment to open her eyes, instead focusing on the incredible smell. She smelt cooked stew and fish, so she thought Hiccup woke up earlier than her and made breakfast, which wasn't surprising for her. Living years without a mother, and a chief as a father, Hiccup was mostly alone inside his house when not in the forge, or in the healer's hut; so he self-taught lots of things, from reading to cooking. She opened her eyes, expecting to find Hiccup near the table, but got disappointed as the scrawny red-haired boy was not in sight. Looking to the bed he slept, the disappointment changed to worry as she neither saw him or his cane. She took a moment to notice a letter hanging near the table she used yesterday, written by him.

_Heather_

_I hope you rested well, though I think you'll wake up tired for looking for me until later at night. I do, although, thank you a lot for the kind action. Seriously you didn't need to do it, you already did plenty yesterday. I decided to go to the forest walk a little so I could get used to the cane. Don't worry, I remember the promise I made you._

_Also to repay your kindness yesterday, I decided to make you some breakfast. I might not be a great cook, but I think I managed to cook something eatable, hope you enjoy it. _

_See you later_

_Hiccup the 'Reckless'_

Once she finished reading the note, she held it close to her, a smile creeping on her face. 'Even after that idiot nearly got himself killed last raid, he still took the trouble and time to do something for her, and without even waking her up' she fondly thought. Her smile only left her face because of one thought that came to her mind: 'I really hope he keeps his promise'


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: I'm delighted about the positive response Hiccup and heather's friendship has received. As i have already planned most of this story, i can surely tell you that this won't be the last time you see the friendship these two have (or a motherly Heather). Also, as the story progresses, less and less it will events will be like the movie. Reviews are much appreciated, especially regarding. Anyway, here's another chapter.**_

Meanwhile…

Hiccup spent all day learning how to walk properly with a cane, so he would not stress too much his wounded leg, while also searching at Raven Point for the elusive dragon. Learning how to walk with it resulted in not so few face encounters with the ground, but after what felt the 100th fall, he managed to walk properly. The only downside was having to stop so he could properly write on his sketchbook.

As midday passed, he sighed and marked another "X" in his improvised map of Raven Point made in his notebook, and then in a brief moment of anger, he scribbled at it before snapping it shut.

"Oh the Gods must reeeally hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug or even their socks. No, not me! I manage to lose an entire dragon. An entire. Trapped. Dragon!" I decided to take my frustration in a tree branch hanging in my way, slapping it. To add insult to injury, the branch slapped me back, giving myself a small cut below the eye.

I stopped, finally looking at my surroundings. The tree to which the branch belonged was cut in half, one still standing while the other bending toward the ground. Also near the tree was a trail of plowed earth toward the small hill up ahead. It was like something came out of the sky and was abruptly forced to stop.

A thought suddenly crept inside my head. 'This is it, the Night Fury did this'. Without thinking, or remembering I was easy pray with this cane, or that the only thing I had was my dagger, I followed the trail until I saw a big black shape lying in a clearing ahead of the hill.

In a moment of terror, I desperately lay down on the ground, perhaps a little too fast and too harsh considering my leg started to hurt again. I took some deep breaths both to calm myself and ease the pain and, after some seconds, I peeked out of the hill to look at the black shape, still unmoving since my first sighting.

I soon took my dagger and gripped it, torn between amazement that I found what I came looking for and terror that it might be a trap and I'll end up dead, thus breaking my promise to Heather. I slowly crept to the nearby boulder, since running was out of option, and I might need it in case the dragon tries to attack me.

I peeked again, hoping that the dragon hadn't moved since I covered behind the boulder. Luckily, the black dragon was lying still, as if it was unconscious or even dead. I warily approached it trying to be silent, but failing miserably because of the cane.

Feeling victorious for not only my invention finally working, but also managing to catch the legendary dragon no Viking has ever seen, I boldly stepped closer, examining how its wings were tangled in the bolas, how it had a pair of fins just where his tail begun, and another pair at the end of it. Looking closer I noticed some scales shed next to it and blood. One of the tail fins had been served, probably when the dragon had hit the ground, or that tree.

"I did it…" I mumbled, still not entirely believing this isn't a dream. "Oh, yes. YES, this fixes everything! Yes, finally! I have brought down this mighty beast" I spoke out loud as I placed the foot of my bad leg on it. As instantly as my foot was on it, it was off it, as I threw myself at the boulder, startled and scared by the sudden shrug of the dragon at my touch.

Breathing hard, I watched as the Night Fury regained its conscious, taking deep breaths. I stood up and held my knife in front of me, trying to determinate where to strike so he would meet his end. For some odd reason I felt like the dragon was watching me, so I slowly turned my gaze to its head, finding green eyes looking at me, and I looking at it.

We held each other's gaze for a few seconds. I was stunned; since I could be sure I found in his gaze a mix of fear and apprehension. 'NO, he's playing with you. Dragons have no emotions!' I thought to myself when I looked away.

"I'm gonna kill you dragon, then… then I'll cut your heart and give it to my father, you hear me?!" but he simply stared at me… "I'm a Viking" I mumbled, and then with a louder voice I said "I'M A VIKING" I would never admit it, but it was more to myself than to the dragon. The dragon which was still staring at me both of fear and pleading so I would end this sadistic game. "I'm sorry, but this is for the best. Your death will not be in vain."

I closed my eyes, so I would not see his gaze anymore. I heard him moan as if he accepted his fate and heard a thud; he probably laid his head while waiting for death. I started lowering my knife to his chest, where I thought his heart was, but each second I lowered it, my arms trembled more, while a part of myself whispered louder and louder inside my head 'don't do it! Don't do it!'

When my knife finally made contact with his skin, I heard a sound between a shriek and a moan, indicating that the dragon was feeling pain. That moment my eyes flew wide open and I removed the blade from his chest, the wound an inch or two deep. I instantly removed it dropped it at my side, as if holding it would curse me.

I sat before him, defeated, as I could not kill a dragon. I felt my leg shoot out pain as I had dropped my cane in this little act, and my gaze felt on his tailfins. 'Tailfin remember? Your invention nailed off half of it' my mind reminded me. "I did this…" and this time I did not feel victorious or proud.

I felt guilty, as waves of guilt shot through me like spears. I sat there for a while, wondering what to do, while the Night Fury shot quick glances at me, breathing quickly and shortly, as if it was afraid that if I saw him looking at me I would torture him more, or because he almost had his heart cut off from him.

So then I decided I would fix my mistake. I stood and took the cane, and managed to find some leaves to put in his chest wound and on his served tailfin, so it would stop bleeding. I knew the basic of healing leaves, since Heather taught me so, whenever Snotlout bullied and left me in the forest, I wouldn't come home in such a bad shape. I also knew a bleeding wound near his heart could kill him, making the action of not fully stabbing him pointless.

He eyed me suspiciously and curiously as I placed the leaves on his chest wound. He winced, but after a while relaxed, probably not feeling anything anymore as the blood stopped pouring out of it. I was going to place some at his tail but as I looked at it, it had almost stopped bleeding. This wasn't shocking since dragons healed faster than humans, the dragons at the Kill Ring were proof of it.

I backed away, picking my knife and cane as I was going to leave, and cast him one last glance. He lay still, waiting to meet its end by my hands, or be tortured for amusement as I was supposed to do. 'Such a pathetic sight to behold. The most dangerous dragon known to us lying on the ground defeated.'

So…

In a completely stupid and insane move…

I started cutting its ropes, deciding that if I didn't want to kill it, it shouldn't starve to death because I trapped it. I remember overhearing the healer teaching Heather what happens to the body when it starves to death and since then I always though no one should have such horrible and painful death. Not even the dragon I couldn't kill.

While Hiccup was cutting the ropes, he failed to notice the Night Fury's eyes opening in shock to what he was doing. Too focused on holding the cane with his arm and carefully cutting the rope without hitting the dragon accidentally, he did not see the dragon eyeing him as he would eye a prey.

This only became noticeable when the last rope was cut and the dragon pounced onto him, holding him in his right paw while eyeing him with a mixture of anger, curiosity and other feelings neither could describe. He could only notice the intense glare the dragon shot at him while his paw barely let him breath, as its grip was getting stronger and started cutting through his vest and his skin.

He eyed him before closing his eyes, waiting for its end at the hands of what his stupidity brought him, at the hands of the dragon he did not kill, healed and set free. Instead of excruciating pain and flames passing through him, the only thing he noticed was an ear piercing roar from the dragon that left him temporarily deaf, and his heart jumping out of his chest.

He opened his eyes to see the dragon pounce away, and then noticed something red on his injured leg. He brought up half of his pants to see that his wound opened again when the dragon pinned him at the boulder and started bleeding. Because of this, and the shock of what just happened, he passed out.

The dragon did not run away as one would think, but instead hid behind some branches eyeing the hatchling carefully. How did he know Hiccup wasn't fully grown? Well, he could smell the lack of usual dragon blood in him, indicating he wasn't one of the Vikings that defended their nest when the dragons attacked; he was unusually small and skinny, unlike the big burly Vikings; but what made he sure of that was his actions.

It was unheard of a Viking sparing a trapped dragon, especially wounded, much less healing it, unless it was going to torture him on the stone and metal dome they had in their nest. Yes he did injure him, both with the ropes, and his dagger, but when he thought he had met his end, the dagger was removed, and its place was healing leaves.

It was common knowledge among dragons of healing properties of some leaves, that's one of the reasons every raid nearly every dragon would look like it never had combat, while only a few were unlucky to bear scars of deep cuts. Obviously that was mostly because of their healing properties, but sometimes leaves were used to keep away any infection the wound could get and to heal faster when the cut was deep.

Back to reality, he watched the human look at his leg before passing out. He did not need to see, for he could smell the strong, almost unbearable scent of blood coming from it. He recalled it being there, but almost non-perceptible before, and now he thought any dragon could smell it all the way to the Queen's nest. 'This wound will surely kill him, perhaps even before he awakes' was his first thought, but a few seconds later a second one surprisingly came:

'He did spare you, it is only right that you spare him either' he knew whatever part of him that brought this thought was right. Dragons didn't have many rules, but did have a code of honor. If one dragon was spared in combat by the opponent and without being fatally injured, the spared one could never cause the death of the one who spared, directly or indirectly.

All dragons held high their pride and honor, and backstabbing was the most dishonoring action a dragon could perform. So even though his pride would surely be hurt, he knew that his honor demanded he wouldn't let the hatchling die, at least not because of him and not now. He slowly left his hideout, creeping to the human, eyeing him the same way Hiccup had eyed the dragon when approaching him: carefully so it would not be surprised if it was a trap.

He soon made his way to the passed out Hiccup, and slowly started licking his leg. He did not know if that would help him, but when a dragon was wounded, licking the wound would make it stop bleeding faster. To some species it would indeed also heal faster, while others it only acted as prevention so that the wound wouldn't be infected. He never quite stopped to notice if this was his case though.

At the first lick he reared back a little when the human flinched, but soon continued when he saw it did not awake, even if it mumbled in pain. He only stopped then when he was satisfied that the wound wasn't bleeding anymore, and soon left the area, to fly away. The only thing he did not expect was to be unable to maintain flight after lifting off, crashing one too many times at the trees while going inside the forest.

Hiccup woke up later, when it was almost sunset, the sky a mixture of blue, red and orange, making it a beautiful afternoon to watch at one of the many cliffs Berk had. He almost immediately turned to look at his leg, worried that he bled out too much to make it to the village. But it wasn't bleeding anymore, and was coated in some viscous water like liquid and the skin was also red, indicating it was irritated as if it had been rubbed in a tree.

Too tired and stunned to dwell on that. He slowly stood; his leg was still aching after all, and took his bloodstained dagger and cane. He made his way shortly after to the village, meeting rain on the way. Only one thought came at his little trip to the village: 'well, I guess I broke my promise to Heather, I hope she just doesn't skin me alive'

* * *

**_AN II: I decided to, in this story, go with the theory that Night Fury saliva has indeed healing properties. Also, to anyone who might think Hiccup was OOC. Even though he was hesitant to strike Toothless, he also had another motivation, as the Night Fury shot him before crashing. Let me know on the reviews what you readers thought about the changes in the scene_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: sorry for the delay. my classes had just began this week, not to mention this saturday i went to a concert of one of my favorite bands, hence why i didn't finish this chapter. to make up with you guys, here's more of some Hiccup/Heather moments, not to mention the slightly larger than normal chapter. For those that asked if this would be an Heathercup story (i'm borrowing the term from Cke1st) i don't want to spoil it to you guys. But rest assured that either this or my next HTTYD fanfiction will have them paired! for those that reviewd, favorited and/or are following my story, thank you for your support!**_

_**without further ado, here's the newest chapter:**_

* * *

Back at the hut

Heather was pacing around worried, angry and anxious, as Hiccup was supposed to be back at the hut to get his wound checked before sunset. Also there was the fact that it was raining and he had gone to the woods barely after sunrise. He usually did that when he was not at the forge, after all he did like to be alone and especially away from his bullying cousin, and also to draw; he did this more when he had a discussion with his father, therefore, nearly always after a raid he tried to help and after being patched up by her.

That's what worried her more; that he went to the woods injured, so if he ran into any dangerous animals he would not be able to outrun it like he usually does. She always found that interesting. Though he was skinnier than the other teens and weaker, he was as fast as then, if not faster than some. She stopped pacing around to dwell more into thoughts, only coming back to reality when the door flew open, the source of her thoughts and worry hanging completely wet with a small smile at his face. Though she was pissed at him for his stupidity, she couldn't stop but smile back at him.

"Well, I see your walk took a little longer than planned" she sarcastically said as she motioned him to come inside and sit on the bed so she could apply some bandages to his leg.

"Yeah… I stopped back there and kind of ended up sleeping. I woke up just before sunset" he said casually, though she noticed something was off on him. Either that he was barely limping anymore or that his tone was more like he was lost in thoughts. However she didn't say anything, as if he wanted he would have told her as he usually does.

"So… how was your day?" he spoke, trying to start a conversation after noticing the awkward silence and her observing gaze on him. Too much was racing around his mind, so it was only natural he didn't want to worry about she interrogating him about his day.

"Oh… it was the same as any day after a raid. Helping the healer tend the injured, grabbing some leaves, worrying about a certain Reckless idiot…" she finished teasing with a smile, the smile that always left him uncomfortable, like he was a child caught by his mother doing something wrong, or that made him feel like a fool.

So he did what he thought it was logical to the situation… "I'm sorry…" he lowered his gaze, no longer brave enough to look at those green eyes that looked at him with tenderness.

"It's okay, now let me see how's your leg" he frozen and hesitated for a second, but knew there was no escape. If he didn't let she see it, she would get even more suspicious and ask more questions. If she did see it, she would also ask more questions, though perhaps different from the ones she would if he didn't let it. So, defeated, he laid down while she was lifting up his pants on the wounded leg. When she lifted it, she froze looking at it, first completely worried, then shocked when she observed more carefully his wound

"H-how..? Wha… what happened? How is it already healed? Why it all is irritated and yet the wounds are barely open anymore?" she didn't know if she was questioning herself or him, but after the shock, she turned to look at him, too many emotions to describe.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock what did you do at the forest?"

'Da, da, da, I'm dead' was his first thought when he heard his full name being used by her demanding tone. He knew she would skin him alive if he told her of the true purpose of his trip to the woods and his encounter to the dragon. But he also knew that she knew of the healing properties of the dragons, and would probably soon tie two-on-two together if she suspected of his purposes.

So he decided to not entirely lie, since he was not very good at doing that, but also not tell the truth. If Heather knows he was almost crisped by a Night Fury, he could as well kiss goodbye his freedom and privacy. Besides, he had had an idea after having his wound patched that he would have probably tried if searching for a Night Fury wasn't in his schedule.

Settling in telling this idea along with part of the truth, he sat at the bed, not moving his legs, quickly thought his words and begun speaking:

"I-I… I was walking when I found a dragon there…" he saw the look of horror on her face and quickly added what he was talking "no-no! It was sleeping, no need to worry" he took a moment to breathe when that look of horror mostly left her face, in exchange to one of curiosity and thoughtfulness.

So far all he had said was the truth, so he needn't to worry about being caught lying. He waited a few seconds silent and got a nod from her, indicating that she was listening, and perhaps wasn't going to skin him yet. He took another deep breath before continuing…

"I sat hidden in some branches to look at it, maybe figure a way to kill it, when my leg started to ache. I think it was because of the position I was sitting, and then I recalled observing how the dragons at the arena usually lick their wounds after training and a few moments later they would look as shine as new." He missed Heather's face of 'you did something stupid again didn't you?' and continue. He knew that from now he would tell his idea instead of the truth. He took a long breath so he didn't sound or looked nervous under her watchful eyes.

"I thought 'if I could get some of his saliva and apply to my leg would this make it heal faster?' " He took a moment to breath, then continued "Then after I got a couple of leaves I crawled to it and stood there taking some of his saliva with the leaves. When I though I got enough I went as far as I could and applied it. I slept a little after applying it and woke up briefly before it rained." either for pride or to not make her worried more he didn't say anything about it hurting, or passing out.

He sighed inwardly, relieved that his voice didn't sound nervous and that he didn't stutter. Perhaps because what he told had been one of his crazy ideas that he managed to tell her without sounding nervous.

He had figured out, while he was partially lying to her, that the dragon had licked him after he passed out, probably because he knew he caused the wound to open and as some sort of retribution for Hiccup helping heal the wound he did. Another note about Night Furies: they did have healing properties on their saliva.

He looked at her gazing at him. He noticed she didn't seem to be suspicious that he didn't tell the truth, but that didn't mean the silence was any less unnerving. To him, it felt like hours, hours of suffocating silence, before she did something he never thought he would presence neither on this life or the next:

"HICCUP!" she shouted, nearly as loud as dad did last raid. "WHAT THE HEL WERE YOU THINKING?" the finished with another shout and standing up. Never have I seen her like that, nor did I ever think I would see the day she would shout at someone. Guess I really deserved it… to be honest I thought the truth would have yielded similar results.

I couldn't find anything to say, as I felt sad and guilty. Guilty partially because I sort of lied to the only person that would hear me, well Gobber did hear me but not like her I guess, I also felt guilty because I meant it. All of our years of friendship and this had been the first time I ever told her a big lie like this.

Most of the times they were small lies so she wouldn't worry so much about me being bullied or that she wouldn't be saddened about what they spoke of her, just because she was my friend.

Had circumstances been slightly different, I'd have done exactly what I told her, because what I said was true. I didn't want them to have another burden related to me. Still, it was better than the truth. Considering it was quite possible that she would believe in it, I had no doubts she would either skin me alive, salt my skin and then sew it back, or shadow me for the rest of my life.

I closed my eyes, waiting to hear she shout again or to be skinned alive. Since the shock from hearing her shouting, I didn't know what to expect anymore. So it was obvious that I was shocked when a pair of arms surrounded me. I didn't dare to do anything, as I felt this was a dream or surreal.

After a couple of minutes, when she partially parted away from him, not removing entirely her arms from him, he opened his eyes to look at her. She held both her hands at his arms while looking at him, before looking away and placing her hands at her lap.

"I'm sorry…" she said in a low voice, a lone tear traveling around her face. " I'm sorry I shouted at you. I guess I lost it." She paused and took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure "It's just that you broke your promise you know? I'm worried Hiccup, that one day your stunts with dragons will be…" she didn't finish. She didn't dare finishing it, as it pained just the thought of it. She sometimes wondered if he knew how much he meant to her, especially since she saw him as the last bit of family she had on Berk.

But she also needed to say one more thing, because she saw the look of guilty in his eyes when she briefly looked at them, while he cleaned that lone tear across her cheek with his thumb. She needed to say it before he averted his gaze away from her. "Hiccup… you're not a burden. No! Listen to me, please" she said as she saw him ready to argue with her, mouth half open. He closed it and gave her a nod, but still looking like he was ready to say something. "You could never be a burden to me; you're like family to me..." She said smiling, managing to also make him smile.

"And I know Stoick feels the same way, he just have more difficult in expressing it. I know you don't get yourself hurt intentionally." He nodded, silently telling her that no, he didn't get intentionally injured as she sometimes suspected. "That said you're as much of a burden as any other injured Viking that comes here. Do you see them as a burden to us?" he shook his head in answer, as for some reason his voice failed to come out. 'Good, he is listening to me then' she briefly thought.

"Now, do you still see yourself as a burden Hiccup?" her sweet motherly voice was on, and because of that, and all the surprises I had that day (seriously I can't just believe this still was the same day) I just nodded at her. I was feeling incredibly tired and didn't feel like discussing anymore. I finally looked at her again; a small smile on her face, but those eyes betrayed her.

They held guilty, guilty from shouting at me, and perhaps guilty as she thought she was responsible that I felt like a burden to her. So to ease her mind I said what I felt it was right: "its okay, I forgive you." I offered her a smile and opened my arms, also offering her a hug as proof of my forgiveness. She accepted it and held it for a while, but I couldn't care less how much time it passed, only about her.

She felt a weight lift off from her shoulders as she hugged him, though she didn't feel like she deserved his forgiveness. She was a little horrified that she shouted at him; she never did that before; she was angry at him being reckless two times in a row, and scared that he thought he was a burden because of her. So she held him tightly, showing without words that she was sorry, and a little afraid that if she let him go she would lose him.

Unknown to her, he was also relieved that she accepted the hug. He felt incredibly guilty for partially lying, even though he tried his best to not show it. She misunderstood the guilt he had in his eyes and he was glad for that. He felt like he completely deserved being shouted at, given his incredible stupidity today, so when she accepted his hug, he also felt she forgave his recklessness.

She felt him stroke her back, a smooth and kind stroke indicating he understood what she meant and that she was forgiven. 'He is too forgiving' she thought, unbeknown that he was thinking the same. And it was true. Even when Snotlout bullied him, he never held any grudge at his cousin. She them remembered about his leg and parted away from him, the need to tell him that his insane doing actually gave results being unbearable.

"Hiccup, I have some good news to you." She spoke, entering in her healer mode. "It seems your leg is almost completely healed. The wound is almost closed. You won't need to use the cane for some days anymore, though I'd feel better if you used it to walk to your house. Also the rain seems to have stopped so dry yourself before you catch a cold." She paused momentarily, before remembering there was still one more thing to tell him "Oh, and you father wanted to speak to you" the smile that grew on his face from the news of his leg soon disappeared after she told him Stoick wanted to talk.

She continued, feeling he needed some reassuring: "I'm sure he's not mad, he didn't sound like it when he came here. I'll pass on your leg some paste to ease the irritation and bandage it. If you rest it tonight, tomorrow you'll probably be good as new. Just be sure to drop the cane here before going to the forge or somewhere else" she saw his smile come back, and felt happy that she managed to reassure him.

She passed the paste and bandaged the leg, then stood to help him stand. She helped him walk to the door with the cane in her hand, doing her best so he wouldn't put pressure on the recently healed leg. She opened it and gave the cane to him, and they bid goodnight to each other before he left to his house. She closed the door and soon after she was lying on her bed, she fell asleep, as worrying for him for hours exhausted her, not to mention their discussion.

Hiccup opened the door slowly, not sure if his father had slept waiting for him, he didn't want to make any noise. When he saw him hunching over the fire, his back facing Hiccup, he tried sneaking to his bedroom, hoping to at least rest before his dad talked to him whatever he wanted to.

Somehow Stoick knew Hiccup had arrived in the room, as he called for him. "Hiccup, I want to talk to you." Hiccup supposed his cane must have made a noise that gave away his presence to his father, or maybe the stairs made a creaking noise when he was trying to silently climb it.

"Dad! Uh… I need to talk to you too…" I said, surprised that I as discovered, while I climbed down the stairs. He approached me and clapped his hands, looking a little uncomfortable with whatever he wanted to tell me. So it wasn't really surprising when he did not begin telling me what he wanted, instead trying to hold a conversation before that.

"Son, so how's your leg?" he looked at it, a mix of worry, sadness and disappointment held in his gaze. I was glad that at least he showed concern for my health, instead of just lecturing me again for being reckless. Heather already covered very well that department.

"Well…" I hesitated, not knowing how he would handle the news "Nice actually. Heather said I won't need to use the cane tomorrow anymore. I just need some rest and then I'm good as new" I spoke rather excited. I knew I wouldn't be able to work on the forge if I still had to use the cane, hence why I was excited. Being confined to home without anything to do surely was terrible.

He looked surprised, as he probably recalled what Heather told him on the aftermath of the raid. But to my luck he didn't press the matter, probably because he wanted to tell me something serious. Heather's interrogation had been more than I could withstand for one night, so I was relieved he let this pass.

He shifted his feet a little, now obviously looking uncomfortable before speaking again: "Well, that's nice, very nice to what I need to tell you" I then recalled what I wanted to tell him, my encounter with the Night Fury changing my view, and therefore, my actions toward the dragon-kind. So I took a deep breath, not noticing he did the same, and then we spoke at the same time: "I think it's time for you to learn to fight dragons"/"I don't want to learn to learn to fight dragons"

"What?" we both asked the same time, as we spoke at the same moment, neither did really understand what each other said.

"You first" I was surprised that it was he that said it, as he never listens to anything I want to say. Afraid that what I wanted to tell him would hinder what he wanted to say, I didn't tell it. "No, you first" I replied, after all it didn't seem whatever he wanted to tell me was another lecture. I climbed down the stairs I had started climbing before being discovered, and waited to hear him.

Stoick eyed Hiccup for a second before sighing."You get your wish. Dragon training, you start in the morning" he seemed to smile. "I was worried your leg would keep you from joining the initiation, but it seems you'll be just fine" he spoke in relief. I mentally facepalmed, as how unlucky I was at the moment. Let dad change his mind about this when I also changed mine.

* * *

**_AN II: i'll try to maintain my schedue of updating once every week a new chapter, but i hold no promises., as i'm also working on a crossover. I promise, though, that my updates will not take longer than a month. As always, reviews are much appreciated_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_AN: I accidentally found the perfect image for this fanfiction! it fits so perfectly, to me at least, that i almost jumped in pure happiness at the moment. changing the subject, i must thank you all for the support you guys are giving me. i never expected to have 14 followers, 13 reviews and 11 favorites so quickly. and it delights me greatly to see people liked the Heather-Hiccup scenes i wrote. I must admit i'm unsure whether this fic will be a Heathercup fic, as some said they would like for it to be (a word Cke1st used on her two fics, both that i absolutely recommend for those looking for some Hiccup-Heather fluffiness), but i can garantee you all that there will be a Heathercup fic from me; if not this fic, then my next HTTYD work._**

_**AN II: i found myself facing a slight writer's block, so it might take a little longer to publish more chapters. while i have a good part of the story already writen, only in need of some polishment, i wish not to publish it all so soon, so when i face a writer's block, like now, you guys won't be waiting too much for a new chapter. Besides, i'm also working on a HTTYD crossover with Frozen, and the first chapter should go up before the end of this month. More info on AN III at the end of the chapter.**_

_**without further ado, another chapter:**_

* * *

"Oh, I should have gone first…" I babbled, alarmed. "Because…" 'Because I found the Night Fury and I couldn't kill it, so I set him free. And it almost led me to my death so I want to never face a dragon again' I thought. I could say that, it was the truth after all. 'Yeah sure, tell him that and either you're fed to the Arena dragons or shipped to Outcast Island, think something else' a part of my head recalled. "Because… you know… we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings. But do we have enough bread making-Vikings, or blacksmith Vikings, or perhaps small-home-repair Vikings…"

He, of course, interrupted me "You'll need this" he said as he placed his battleaxe in my hands, almost bringing me down due to its heavy weight. Not that he really noticed it, as usual. It seemed that I had imagined that he actually, for a moment, wanted to hear what I had to say.

Ok, I was getting desperate. Last thing I wanted was another near-death experience with a dragon, even if it was a Terrible Terror. I begun thinking anything I could say to avoid this…

"Dad, what if my leg is not healed enough for dragon training?" I said in a quavering voice, I hoped this would halt him. For a moment, I was hopeful, since he stopped.

He looked at me for a second, seemly thinking about that, before his face showed that he found an answer to that. I found out I was right seconds later: "I'll get Heather and Gobber to come here at the morning to check it. You'll go if she says it's healed, Gobber will make sure of that" he said with resolution, shattering my hope of evading Dragon Training.

'Ok, didn't work, what else? What else?' my mind was nearly in overdrive to find something he'll listen. "I-I don't want to fight dragons" I quavered again, my desperation already becoming evident in my voice and posture.

He laughed, clearly thinking that Hiccup was joking. After all he didn't cause all that destruction because he didn't want to fight dragons, especially destroying half the harbor in the last raid. "Oh, come one, of course you do, otherwise why would you destroy half the village yesterday?" He chuckled, apparently very amused at his son's statement. Hiccup deadpanned at using the destruction as a joke

'Caught in the spot…' I sighed "Rephrase… Dad, I can't kill dragons" he crossed his arms while still laughing "Oh, but you will kill dragons" he said, encouraging me, still thinking every word I spoke was a joke.

"No, I'm pretty extra sure that I won't kill" I was already losing hope that I would avoid this. It looked like Loki was disgracing me for his own amusement.

He suddenly grew grim and serious, the laughter vanishing. "It's time Hiccup. Every Viking does and so will you" he said sternly.

"Can you not hear me?" my voice breaking with fear and desperation.

"This is serious son. When you carry that axe out there, you carry all of us with it. That means you talk like us" – he said while adjusting my hold on the axe – "walk like us" – he again adjusted my posture, this time how I stood – "and think like us." he said pointing to his head, in case I didn't understand it. If I was, say, Snotlout or the Twins who make doors look smarter, I wouldn't get it. But to me it was as clear as water.

He finished with a "No more of… This" while waving and gesturing his hands at me. I, of course, knew what he meant, after all Gobber did the same last day. So I did what I did yesterday after Gobber did that:"You just gestured to all of me" I replied sarcastically, at least Gobber would say it with the intent of cheering me up.

"Good, you got it. Now, do we have a deal?" his expression unchanged with my sarcasm. 'Seriously, why nobody is getting my sarcasm?' I thought angrily before complaining: "this conversation is feeling very one-sided you know?"

"Hiccup" He said, slightly rising his voice. "To be a Viking is to kill dragons. If you don't attend it, I'll have to ship you off as an outcast" he explained using his chiefly tone. Hiccup froze; petrified that his dad would actually ship him off if he didn't go to Dragon Training. Hiccup might be the last piece of Valka Stoick had, but that didn't mean he wanted his son to deny Dragon Training; Stoick wanted him to face the dragons and avenge his mother, just like he himself did.

"It's they way things are son, I can't make you the exception just because you're my son." he explained, and if Hiccup had paid more attention, he would have noticed the slightly defeated tone Stoick used, clearly showing that he didn't agree entirely with the idea either. He only agreed because he trusted Gobber's judgment. "Now, do we have a deal?" he asked, although by his tone he seemed to demand it.

I sighed before giving in… "Deal…" I knew I was deeply going to regret this, that is, if I live long enough to regret it. But at least dying on Berk was better than dying in the middle of the ocean, alone, by the hands of a wild dragon, or pirates, or Outcasts. At least here I would be properly buried, I think.

He, otherwise, seemed to be satisfied. "Good" he took a basket, and walked to get his helmet near the door. "Train hard. We'll be searching one last time for the nest" his tone was encouraging, perhaps to fix the idea inside my head. "I'll be back… probably" he finished before leaving.

"And I'll be here, maybe…"

The next day

I woke up by the sound of the door opening. Coming from it were Gobber and Heather. She had a pack with bandages, probably to place after she removed the ones on my leg. I yawned before sitting on my bed. She was smiling while Gobber looked a little worried, since he knew nothing of what I did yesterday, nor had I seen him to tell him I was infinitely better.

Heather took a chair and placed near my bed, and gestured to me remove my blankets so she could exam the leg. Gobber, meanwhile, just stood behind her, anxious to hear the news about my health.

"Good morning, sorry we woke you" she said smiling; probably thinking I was still tired. But fun thing is: I was actually feeling well rested. I was feeling like I could work all day at the forge, not that I'd. Technically I wished I was completely sore as I'd be after a full-day work at the forge, so I could evade Training. I'd accept anything so I wouldn't be in a tight, closed space facing an enraged dragon.

She pushed up my pants of the injured leg and slowly removed the wrapped bandages around it. I looked at it as she also did. The leg was hardly irritated anymore, and all of the damage it had been done was patched. Even the cuts that were still open yesterday were now all scars. 'A lot of scars, by the way...' I mentally remarked. Last time I recall being so injured was at the beginning of my apprenticeship, when a learned Gobber believed in 'learning on the job'.

I turned to look at her and found she was little surprised, even though she had seen it yesterday after all. Gobber, meanwhile, had his jaw open, and then started closing and opening it, looking like a fish out of water. I wondered badly what the blacksmith could be thinking about right at this moment.

"H-how? What? I saw yehr leg all bloodied after the raid. And those scars look at 'em. They should've taken weeks to heal" Heather chucked a little and so did I. His expression that moment I would never forget. Perhaps I would draw it after they were gone. She looked at me and I looked at her, the silent question understood. I gave her a nod before speaking:

"W-well, I used some dragon saliva on it, and apparently it worked" Gobber still was shocked, though now by what I just said he was also angry, and a tiny little bit worried. Mainly because what I said meant that I went near a dragon, injured and alone. But he, unlike Heather, did not interrogate nor shouted. Instead he just asked the question I expected, and feared, that he would: "From what kind of dragon did you steal some spit?" he asked skeptically, crossing his arms, although there was a slight hint of amusement, given how he phrased the question.

"I… can't really remember…" and then I saw Heather looking at me suspiciously. I subtly shook my head to her, indicating I didn't want to tell him what kind of dragon. Lying to her was bad enough. She, luckily, didn't question the breed when I told her, but I knew Gobber would not buy any breed I knew of. He would probably think it was the Night Fury since it was the only one that I saw this property. Besides, a small lie would be better than a big one.

Also none of the dragons at the Arena that could have would have healed it so quickly. She soon spoke to cover me up, noticing my silence: "What he says it's true, though I highly disregard using it. We don't know the effects it could give, and temporary amnesia apparently could be one" I smiled at her, but she didn't return, I knew she would ask more questions later. I just hope with Training she would be busy enough to ask them, considering I survived it.

He, on the other hand, had terror written at his face, because of the 'unknown effects' Heather just said. I paled a little, and she saw it. Quickly she added up to what she said: "But don't worry. Hiccup shows no sign of poisoning or any other ailments. And also his leg is perfectly fine. The wounds are all closed and his muscles seem to be all healed. A little walking without the cane and he's good to go." And now he looked at me, but relieved.

Color had returned from my face, but soon went away again, remembering what effect the words she just spoke would have on my day. She looked at me, worried and puzzled to why I paled again, while Gobber, smiling, spoke: "Great, so yeh can go to Dragon Training. Yehr father told me 'bout the agreement yeh two had yesterday." He spoke excitedly, completely oblivious of my aversion of going to it.

It was Heather's turn to pale that moment. She, of course would be there, after all someone always got injured at Dragon Training. The healer had taught her how to heal Dragon wounds, the proof the treatment she gave at Hiccup's Nightmare wounds after the raid, so it was obvious she would be the one healing the teens, since the healer wouldn't be available.

Gobber came and put his hand at her shoulder, and with his prosthesis he gestured to me "Well, if that's all then we'll be going. Yeh'll need to exercise yehr leg before training. Can't have yeh tripping everywhere there" he spoke joking, trying to lighten up the mood as always. I mouthed her 'I'll be fine' to try to relief her a little. She nodded, indicating the message was receive, although her posture showed she didn't believe it not even for a second.

She went to put her bandages back at the bag, since she didn't wrap on my leg anymore "Well, since it's all healed, there is no need to bandage it anymore" she said, trying to get over the sudden news. She quickly packed up and, left the house, with Gobber following her, but before he left, he spoke while at the door: "Dragon Training starts midday, don't be late" and then closed the door.

I immediately stood, a little weakly since my body had had gotten slightly used to leaning its right side, but after a couple of slow steps, I sat at my desk, and took my sketchbook. After opening it and taking a charcoal pencil I started drawing Gobber's expression while it still vivid in my head, while also trying to suppress my desperation. After finishing it, I grabbed the axe dad gave me and left the house to stretch my legs, and lean on the axe whenever my leg would give out. I knew I'd do a lot of running at the training, knowing how Gobber's method of teaching was, so I thought that at least I needed both my legs ready for that.

The Dragon Training Arena was rather an exquisite work. It was carved inside the land, all made of stone. All the doors that held the dragons were made of two foots of metal and wood, to prevent them from escaping. Because all the walls were made of stone and carved into the land, the dragons had no way to escape by pounding at it. I walked slowly to the Arena, neither excited to go there nor excited to meet the group that bullied me. Still, I had to go. I (forcedly) had made a deal with dad, and Gobber would report to him once the man returned. Summing it up, I had no choice.

* * *

_**AN III: i wanted the scene between Stoick and Hiccup to be a bit more tense than the movie shows. let me know if you guys, and ladies, thought i succeeded at doing so.**_

_**Besides, regarding my crossover, i'm accepting suggestions for a title. giving titles was never my strong point. Also, a little more of detail to it: It'll be a Runaway Hiccup fanfiction, though i'm sure i managed to write a very different scenario of how Hiccup and Toothless leave Berk before the Nightmare face-off. I wanted an unique scene different from what i've read in every other fanfiction, and I think i managed to do so. For those that might wonder, both Hiccup and Elsa will be 15 when they meet, so yes, it will begin before the main events of the movie. Although i plan to later include them.**_

**_As always, suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. And if any of you have an idea for a title that you think its good, feel free to PM me it._**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Sorry to disappoint you all. But this is just an author note. My crossover, How To Let It Go (a title given by R2-M0) has finally been published, and for all of you HTTYD enthusiasts i highly recommend reading the first few chapters. I am giving a unique take on how Hiccup departed instead of the common 'he left without Astrid confronting him' so there's no Frozen content for now. I wanted to picture him as the logical kind of person, who would leave after carefully planning on how to do it. Not only that, but i wanted for him and Astrid to part ways on good terms, so yes there is a heated discussion and some angst moments. Considering not all of you might be into Frozen and/or Frozen-HTTYD crossovers i'll also write here my AN written on the first chapter. **_

**_I am also currently working on a one-shot with Kate Carpenter(brilliant author by the way. i recommend reading her fanfiction). If you're wondering whether this one-shot is based on my AU or the movie, i am sorry to disappoint you all, but it is post-movie. So far i don't have a summary for it, but what i can say is that it is centered around the idea that Astrid recalls Hiccup's words before she confronted him, and after the boy has a heated discussion with Stoick, she decides to bring up the subject. Given i haven't seen anyone write a OS regarding this kind of confrontation i decided to give this a shot. there will probably be some Hiccstrid in the end for all of you Hiccstrid lovers' content._**

**_Changing the subject, i am thinking into doing some Heathercup One-shots after finishing writting How To Become a Dragon Chief. Should i decided that this fiction will be a Hiccstrid, the first chapter of those one-shots would be an alternative ending where Hiccup ends up paired up with Heather. Given the response i've had regarding pairing up those two, this idea came up to me so i can write some fluffy romance. My next HTTYD Fanfiction will definitely be a Heathercup one, and the way he departs from Berk is what makes possible for him to fall in love with Heather, but with a more mature kind of romance (not lemons, but given that Hiccup will be on a journey to find his mother, his priority won't be to fool around with Heather once they become a pair.) so i want to know what do you guys think. PM on your thoughts and even ideas, i'll be more than happy to hear them. To the Hiccstrid lovers out there, you guys will hate my guts at how i'll write the confrontation Astrid does to Hiccup on my second HTTYD fanfiction_**

**_PS: for those that know how to manage Photoshop, whoever gets to make me, or find a good image featuring Hiccup from the first movie and Elsa with her coronation dress together in a buddy way, gets to tell me a scenario for me to write. Be it a Heathercup, Hiccstrid or even Hiccelsa. (except for lemons. while i have nothing against those who do write, i myself am not a writer of lemons). On how to send me the image, PM me about this little challenge and i'll reply my email back. For those that don't get their image chosen, you can still tell me your ideas and i'll see if i can include them on my story, or adapt them_**

**_This Note will be deleted once Chapter six get uploaded. We'll see Heather acting as a healer again, and how she copes up with Hiccup nearly dying at the hands of the Gronckle._**


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN: hello, welcome back to another chapter of How To Become a Dragon Chief. I apologize for the delay, since I just published a one-shot of my upcoming HTTYD fanfiction that i'll work once the HTTYD 2 movie comes out on DVD. To all of you Heathercup lovers i recommend reading it, since there's a Heathercup scene for you all.(let me know what you guys thought of it. it would help me steer to what direction i want to take the Heathercup romance once i begin writing one-shots of it, after finishing this fiction) Also i fairly recommend (again) reading How To Let It Go if any of you would like to see a distinguished, deeper take on how Hiccup leaves Berk rather than how we see in the movie. The author notes i previously published will be kept on air for any of you who wish to know more about the other works i am currently creating.**_

_**As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome**_

_**Without further ado:**_

* * *

I was behind the teens when Gobber opened the Arena. "Welcome to Dragon Training" he said in a jolly voice, as the teens and I walked inside it. Anyone could see he was as excited as a child when it got his first weapon. "No turning back" I heard Astrid murmur in fierce determination. I wish I could feel determinate and fearless as she was. Knowing Gobber this training would be nowhere near safe, much like our daily lives is not.

"I hope I get some serious burns on my arms. Would be awesome to see them on fire." said Tuffnut, grinning madly. "I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back. The blood dripping from it would be epic" his sister piled on with a dreamy face. I would never understand how and why they loved pain or destruction.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it" Astrid agreed with them. It seems like everyone wanted something painful to happen during training, perhaps with the exception of FIshlegs. But, speaking by experience, there was no fun, or pleasure, in being clawed by a Nightmare, or impaled on the leg by wood debris of my former invention. And from working on the forge I am sure to say that it's not fun at all to see your own arm catch fire.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically in disbelief, and everyone turned to look at me. Astrid seemed like she was pissed because I was denying what she said. "No kidding right? Pain, love of my life, I might as well marry It." sarcasm dripped with my voice so thickly it could almost be stored like water.

Astrid snorted at my sarcasm, clearly not amused, while the other groaned. I could swear I heard Heather stiffen a laugh behind me. "Great, who let him in?" Tuff moaned.

"Let's get started" Gobber shouted, ignoring Tuffnut's question, as he closed the gate we just went through. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village. A Nightmare no less." I immediately recalled running from one at the raid and paled a little. Good thing my chances of winning were as big as of winning Astrid's heart.

Snotlout sneered "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualifies him or what?" almost everyone laughed before I replied him "No, but I believe the scar I won from facing a Nightmare ought to do it" the laughter immediately finished, and I let a small smile creep on my face. Snotloud looked really pissed at my statement, while the Twins looked envious at me. Fishlegs had paled, probably remembering the scene, and Astrid's face was unreadable as she usually did to mask whatever she felt, if she felt anything at all.

Luckily, before Snotloud could say or do anything, Gobber came behind me and shouted "LINE UP" I flinched, since for a moment I was deft of my left ear, and then he leaned on me to whisper "It won't, yeh know, Heather said everything was ok with that scrawny butt of yehrs. It's a nice battle scar by the way." He said encouragingly and then he proceeded to start his lesson.

Hiccup and the teens lined up. He ended up near Fishlegs, which wouldn't be so bad if he didn't mutter constantly dragon statistics. Albeit impressive that he memorized, apparently, the entire book, it could be annoying to hear him constantly talk about dragons, or even the legends about them. Gobber, meanwhile, was near the cages to begin his lesson.

"Behind these doors" he gestured toward them "are the species yeh'll learn how to fight here. There are many more out there but alas we cannot hold them all here. Now, yehr first dragon: The Deadly Nadder…" and Fishlegs begun his muttering "Armor: 16" "The Hideous Zippleback" "Plus 11 Stealth times 2" "the Monstrous Nightmare" "Firepower: 15" "The Snaptrapper" Fishlegs' eyes widened at the mention of the not-so-common 4 heads dragons "Venom: 18" "The Timberjack" he gestured toward a larger cage. Fishlegs jaws hung open at the mention of the gigantic rare dragon, but soon enough he muttered more dragon statics: "30 feet razor-sharp wingspan" Gobber then stood behind a wall of stone.

To the other, it was just stone, but I could faintly see the outlines of what looked like a door made with pure iron and stone to disguise it. Gobber gestured to it and evilly grinning pronounced: "the White Fury" everyone, especially Fishlegs paled at the bare mention of the legendary dragon. It truly was a heroic tale at how the dragon was trapped, and some suggested the dragon had been around, caged, for more than 2 generations of Berk.

Almost nothing was certainly known about this dragon, except that it seemed to have an unnatural hatred toward the Vikings. Some who faced him and lived to tell the tale even spoke of dragons cowering in fear at the mere sight of him flying. Most of the stuff known about him was from legends, hence why the Book of Dragons didn't hold many details about him, other than his appearance.

Fishlegs now was probably whiter than the dragon itself. Just like the Skrill, the White Fury was a Mysterious Class Dragon, thought to be closely related to the Night Fury; hence the name. Since no one ever saw a Night Fury (except for me), there was no way to be sure, but the White Fury was built for extreme speed, had a powerful jaw strength and especially: it could dive bomb making a signature sound similar to the Night Fury and release a crimson red, destructive blast similar to its cousin, albeit slightly less destructive.

After a few seconds watching our reactions, Gobber started maniacally laughing, before Snotlout spoke up: "You're kidding, there is no such dragon as the White Fury. It's just a story parents tell their children so they behave." he tried to dismiss, though it was painfully obvious he didn't believe in what he said. Gobber just ignored, continuing with his laugh, as Fishlegs got enough courage to speak again, replying Snotlout's statement:"Oh there is such dragon. Legend says it's the Night Fury's cousins and has a Speed of 20; also legend says its white scales are so shiny, it can blind a person like looking at the sun" he spoke with enthusiasm, the fear he just felt at merely hearing the dragon's name was long since forgotten.

Finally Gobber stopped laughing to agree with him "Aye, it's true, that's why we built him a dragon arena underneath the ground. We don't need yeh blind or blown to pieces by this dragon's dive bomb. Now, continuing" he said as he started walking around the cages as well "The Terrible Terror""Attack: 8; Venom: 12" and suddenly:"WILL YEH STOP THAT" Gobber shouted at him, losing his patience with Fishlegs' dragon statistics muttering.

"And… the Gronckle" he finished, grinning, while he rested his right arm at the lever of the cage."Jaw strength: 8" Fishlegs whispered to me. I wondered how many times he had read the Book of Dragons to know all of this, or how his brain didn't fry for reading so many times that book.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Snotlout shouted desperately, "Aren't you going to teach us anything first?! A tip, battle tactics, anything at all?" "Is the Great Snotlout afraid?" Tuff asked, grinning, to his sister, while Gobber, smirking, adjusted his hand at the lever, before answering his signature teaching phrase:"Absolutely not. I believe in learning on the job" and pushed down the lever.

Just after he did that, the dragon came out bursting at high speed towards us. Everyone ducked as the giant humming bee shot through, crashing at the opposite side of the arena.

"Today's lesson is about survival. If yeh get blasted…" he watched the Gronckle eat some rocks"… yeh're dead! Quick, what's the first thing yehr going to need to keep yehr butts away from the dragon's mouth?" he asked, showing how his 'learning on the job' method worked.

"A doctor?" I sarcastically shouted, glancing at Heather, whom was watching the whole thing from outside the dome, looking at me and shaking her head while smiling. She knew I had the knack of letting a sarcastic remark out on dire situations. Although I thought she would show a little more worry, given my track record to dragon-related situations, instead of seemingly being amused at our desperation, and also mine.

"Plus 5 speed? Plus 10 strength? Plus 20 armor? Plus 100 luck? " Fishlegs worriedly tried to guess. What he meant by that, or how he planned on achieving all of those things within seconds was beyond everyone's knowledge. Naturally, it was Astrid, the great prodigy of Berk, the child that fiercely trained ever since she could hold an axe, who answered right:"A shield" Gobber nodded, and pointed us to a pile of shields that, for some reason, none of us spotted earlier.

Everyone went there to pick one. Gobber instructed "Yehr most important piece of equipment is yehr shield." as he neared me, "If yeh have to make a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield. A sword is no good if yeh're about to be crisped like a chicken." He finished shoving the shield I was struggling to grab, and pushing me back to action.

It was not surprising what he said. He particularly hated swords, not only because he always had been an axe Viking, but because at every raid we always had to repair dozens of it. Mainly because some stupid Vikings thought it would be useful using a sword against Gronckle armor, which in turn, would barely be scratched by it. Swords, other than for marriage ceremonies, were good against other Vikings; but since it has been decades since someone raided Berk, I wonder why do we still have and make swords.

As it was expected, it didn't take long before the Twins started fighting each other, this time over a shield both wanted. "Take that one. It's got a flower, girls like flowers. This one is meant to the deadliest weapon in the world" Tuff suggested before being slammed by his sister with the shield he had just been holding. As his nose bled, Ruff replied "Oops, now this one has blood of the deadliest weapon on it."

They continued fighting until the Gronckle zeroed on them and shot a fireball that blew against the shield. Except for some wood splinters that got stuck on them, they didn't suffer any serious injuries, much to their weird dismay. "Ruff! Tuff! Yeh're out" beamed Gobber across the arena. They barely had time to come out of their dizziness before the dragon rammed then like a yak would, shoving them hard to the ground. No one bothered to check them out, since they were screaming in ecstasy because of the newly-acquired wounds.

"Those shields are good for another thing: Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim! If it can't aim, it can't crisp yehr butt." Everyone, including me, began bashing our weapons at the metal center of the shield, making lots and lots of noise. Because of that, the Gronckle started shaking its head, apparently confused or disturbed by the clanking. After shaking it off he started zeroing at us, and we sorted across the arena.

"Now" he continued instructing while we avoided the dragon "Every dragon has a shot limit. Knowing it can save yeh if you go toe-to-toe with one of them. How many does a Gronckle have?" "Five?" Snotlout guessed, trying to appear smart but failing horribly. Fishlegs, on the other hand, answered correctly:"No, Six!" His shout got the attention of the Gronckle and soon enough he was shot out, the shield being ripped apart from his arm by the blast of the dragon. "Correct. That's one for each of yeh! Fishlegs, yeh're out!"

The dragon was disturbed again, but this time because of Fishlegs pained scream that haunted the Arena. I gritted my teeth, as I could swear my ears were being stabbed by his voice. I (and probably Heather) only hoped that his arm had not broken, otherwise I would be sure he was the unluckiest trainee i have ever seen. Everyone else, other than the Twins, covered their ears hearing the scream. Luckily his voice seemed to fail, as the stabbing noise soon died down, and the dragon returned his hunt for our heads.

I observed the scene while hiding behind the hack of shields, when then I heard Gobber shouting at me "Hiccup! Get in there. Yeh need to learn how to fight them, not just survive!" I was ready to leave when I had to duck before a fireball hit the wall just inches above from where my head was. I observed as the Gronckle's attention shifted to Snotlout, which was at the moment trying to flirt with Astrid, and as usual, failing to be noticed by her.

I crawled out while the Gronckle shot at Snotlout, blowing his shields to pieces. Astrid had ducked, landing near me, while he was knocked out by the blast. "So, I guess surprisingly it's just you and me" I asked, trying to lighten the tension around the arena. I was in fact surprised I had lasted so far that it was only me and the best Viking of our generation.

I saw her posture grow rigid and her eyes widen. She replied "Nope, just you" before ducking. Before I even knew, the Gronckle shot at me, knocking out my shield from me. Aside from a small burn at my other hand, I was fine. Seeing the Gronckle zeroing at my position, I ran toward the shield as I heard Gobber shout "One shot left" what was weird is that I was supposed to be out, but Gobber didn't call for it.

I only noticed the Gronckle behind me when he singled me out and cornered me against the wall. Heather and Gobber, both with widen eyes and horror all over their faces screamed in unison: "Hiccup" just at the same moment I saw the Gronckle's mouth open and its end lighted up. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, noticing the similarity of the situation with my meeting with the Night Fury.

* * *

_**AN: Aaand cliffhanger. Not really, he will come out alive. I just wanted to end the chapter there because the next one will focus on the Night Fury, and some of you messaged me saying that i was still relying too much on the events of the movie, even though i offer a good point of view for them. Because of this i'm reworking the aftermath of their first day to include a bit of Hiccup and Heather talk.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**AN: Hello again fellow readers. I apologize for the delay in updating this fic, since How To Let It Go got me wrapped up. For those that care, there's also been another reason for the delay: i ended up hospitalized recently. i'm out of there, so my work on this fic can continue. For those wanting to read the OS i've been working with Kate Carpenter i'm afraid you'll have to wait more, since she's also in a bad state, therefore not being able to write much. I hope she gets better soon, and any support shown by you guys to her is very much appreciated from her and me, since she's a dear friend of mine.**_

_**ANII: i'll already warn you readers in advance. my studies are intensifying, so my work on all my fics will unfortunately slow down. i'll be able to update before October arrives, but don't expect any updates from the following two weeks to happen. Not to mention that i'll try to focus on the OS so it can be published this month.**_

_**And without further ado:**_

A few seconds later I heard a deafening boom and felt something hot pass near my right hand, again, given it was the same one that had been burned slightly just moments ago. I opened my eyes and saw Gobber's hook inside the dragon's mouth, with him tugging the dragon toward its cage. "And that's six; go back to bed yehr overgrown sausage. Yeh've enough of a mess for today. " he yelled at it before punching it in the face and closing the cage.

"Yeh'll get another chance, don't yeh worry." Honestly I couldn't tell if he said that to us or the dragon. He turned to us and walked closer to me "Remember: a dragon will always. Always…" He hoisted me up by my arm and looked me in the eyes as he finished: "…go for the kill". He went to Snotlout and shoved his head with his prosthesis, waking him up.

Heather entered the arena and started treating our wounds. Astrid had just a few scratches, probably from rolling on some wood splinters, while Fishlegs had to wrap his arm as it had been bruised when the shield flew off from it. Snotlout had been given a block of ice to put on his head and the Twins arms were wrapped with bandages after she had removed the splinters of wood that was on it. Needless to say there were ecstatic at being bandaged, to the point where they were already fighting and the bandages dropped on the ground. Heather just sighed and gave up; she knew none of their wounds were too serious so she didn't bother treating it again.

When it was my turn, she placed some oil at my hand, making it hurt and me hiss in pain. I tried to recoil my hand from it, but she surprisingly held strong and cooed: "Shh, it'll make the burn heal faster. You're lucky it won't need to be amputated, you own it to Gobber you know." After a few seconds she had let the oil around the burns, she wrapped it with bandages, impossibly gentle as usual. Astrid may have the looks of a Valkyrie, but I could bet Heather had her hands blessed by Freyja sometimes. If anyone ever doubted her skills as healer then they have never been treated by her before.

After she finished it, she laid a hand on my shoulder, making me look right in her eyes. "You scared me again Reckless. I'm starting to think you like doing this." she said smirking, but my title and her eyes betrayed her. I lowered my gaze to my hand and muttered "I'm sorry" and took a deep breath. I saw her stand up and taking a deep sigh before answering:

"Don't be. We both knew what was expected when we agreed with the idea of you going to Dragon Training. I'll do my best to help you, but… be more careful okay?" she asked softly. It was painfully obvious that, by the tone of her voice, she was very against my presence in the ring, but that she couldn't do anything about it. I nodded in reply and she, satisfied with my answer, took her bag and left the arena. I left it just after she did so and was going toward home, remembering the events of today. I stopped when I remembered something particular: '_a dragon will always, always go for the kill'_ I recalled Gobber's words, and a thought came up. I changed my destination to the woods, where I met the Night Fury.

I reached the same place I found it, and crouched to grab one of the ropes, Gobber's words still ringing at my head. "So why didn't you? And more: why did you save me?" I thought out loud. After all I am living proof that Gobber was wrong. And not only that, but also the dragon had prevented that I died. I looked around the woods, trying to find the path the dragon took when he fled away. After a few seconds gazing at the woods, I was able to find one. There were some woods that apparently had sustained some damage, like something crashed on it.

I followed it until it ended on a rock wall with a large crack. In it there was a cliff to an open area. I went there and stood still, amazed at the sight before me. The cliff led to a cove, perhaps 200-300 feet wide. Its walls were of stone and held high and wide. Inside the cove there was a peaceful pond, while near it there were a couple of trees. I stood there, admiring such sight. 'I could live here, perhaps build a forge. It's peaceful and hidden. I wouldn't be bothered by the villagers or dad's disappointed scowl.'

But…' before I could dwell further on the pros and cons of making a living here I noticed something glinting at sunlight. I looked down and saw a trail of several flat disk-like black objects. I took one in my hand and analyzed, turning it a couple of times. The only ones that had seen or touched dragon scales were those that had killed one, so I knew not how a dragon scale felt like, but the object in my hand was disturbingly similar to the Night Fury's scales from what I remember. The more I looked at it, the more convinced I was that the dragon was near this area.

It was not long before a pitched scream was heard and a huge black shadow shot in front of Hiccup. He instinctively recoiled back, startled at the sudden appearance of a black blur, before watching the dragon scrambling the rock, apparently struggling to grab onto it. The shock from being startled turned to surprise as he fulfilled his objective. He had found the Night Fury once again.

The dragon frustrated, gave up and glided back down awkwardly, only to crash near the pond. Not giving up, it went on a different place to try to climb it, only meeting the same results as his last attempt. When I snatched out of my trance, I quickly took my sketchbook to draw it, inspired by the thought of being the first one to draw a Night Fury and survive. Even though it would be tough to draw the dragon as it was constantly moving, a rough sketch would be more than enough to brighten my day.

Hiccup looked at the dragon, while drawing, and noticed it had shot a fireball onto the ground, apparently angry. "Why don't you just fly straight?" he muttered, wondering why it was still in the cove, but soon enough he noticed again one of the end-tailfins was missing. He erased on his the left end-tailfin, and then noticed the dragon seemly limping toward the pond. It tried to grab some fish, but failed.

They both looked at each other, a pair of forest green eyes gazing at yellowed green ones. Neither eyes had shown fear, or anger, or desire to kill that moment. What each other saw was curiosity toward each other. The dragon was surprised that the hatchling came alone and didn't look threatening as he had been when he first saw him. Hiccup surprised as he saw curiosity in the dragon's eyes instead of hostility, even if the Night Fury seemed a bit wary of his presence. He was even more surprised when he realized that the Night Fury was showing an emotion, something unfitting of a mindless beast.

They held their gaze; Hiccup cocked his head lightly at the site, and was even more surprised to see the dragon copy his movements out of curiosity. They continued looking at each other until a thunder roared across the sky. Hiccup broke the gaze to look up, and shot another glance down at the dragon before leaving. He knew it would soon enough rain, and getting soaked was not something he wished to do.

As the rain poured heavily, all the torches had been lighted out, plunging the village into darkness. The only source of light was the entrance to the Great Hall; the two torches overhanging its entrance protected. Hungry and tired, I climbed the stairs, and by the time I was inside feeling its comfortable heat, I was soaked to the bones.

"Where did Astrid go wrong today?" Hiccup heard Gobber asking. He was unhappy to confirm that the teens were indeed there, but he continued anyway. Hunger and tiredness kept him from going to his house cook something, and there was also the possibility of Heather being there to make him company. As the teens' table came to view, he was disappointed to find that his friend was not in the hall; if she was, she would have been at the empty table near them.

"I mistimed my somersault dive, and it threw my reverse tumble off" she bitterly answered. 'The perfect Viking... always so hard on herself' I thought rather bitterly. It was true, she was always the perfect one and hard on herself, as if being perfect wasn't enough. Though if anyone heard her talking, which was not so often, they would see she was also smart… well smarter than the average Viking.

"Yeah, we noticed" said Tuff. He as probably as lost as his sister about what Astrid just said. Snotlout, on the other hand, tried to cheer up (and flirt again with) her "No, no. you were great. It was so… so… 'Astrid' "she rolled his eyes at the pathetic sight and returned eating the chicken leg she held.

I noticed Gobber had left a plate with a chicken leg on it, probably for me. By now it should be cold, but I didn't care. I was tired and soaked and my stomach was roaring louder than a Thunderdrum, begging to be fed. As I approached the table to grab the plate so I could eat on the empty table near them, Snotlout noticed me and moved over, to presumably prevent that I sat with them. Well, lucky me I was planning on sitting on the empty table as usual.

As I was going toward the empty table, I heard Gobber ask: "now, where did Hiccup go wrong today?" I sighed, 'here it comes' I thought as I sat. Sometimes I wondered if he was naïve to the real meaning of his actions. Or maybe he didn't want to favor me because of my friendship.

"Uh, he showed up?" first went Tuff. "He didn't get eaten" his sister continued. "He was useless, as usual" Snotlout gloated. Everyone was laughing, but it was all cut with Astrid's sharp voice: "He's never where he should be" she finished, matter-of-factly. It seemed that all Astrid could do these days was say something bitter and harsh to me. I sadly wondered where the Astrid I had been friends with had gone all those years ago.

'Suits well' a part of me thought, recalling my unluckiness with the Gronckle. "Thank you for summing that up" I muttered while eating the cold leg. I saw through the corner of my eye Gobber shaking his head lightly as he went to the bookshelf to pick a book, but didn't pay much attention to it. My mind was still on the Night Fury, and how it shockingly showed emotions. 'Does that means they are not the beasts we thought they were?' my mind asked, even though I knew not the answer.

"Yeh have to live and breathe this stuff" Gobber said, holding a book, thus bringing me out of my thoughts. "The Dragon Manual – everything we know about every dragon we know of" he finished, cleaning space on the table before dropping the book on it.

As the book made a thud when it landed, a sudden thought clicked inside Hiccup's mind: 'everything we know about dragons… perhaps there is something about the Night Fury there!' it was rather unlikely to be, considering no one knew how one looked like. But maybe Bork managed to write something about the elusive dragon. It sounds farfetched, but it's something to begin with.

Lighting struck outside and Gobber pronounced while looking at the doors: "No attacks tonight, study up. Don't want yeh lot getting eaten tomorrow." Obviously, the first to complain were the Twins: "Wait" Tuff began, "You mean read?" Ruff continued, "While we're still alive?" it was funny sometimes to consider that they and Fishlegs walked together. While the husky blond was a bookworm, those two had an incredible aversion to books, like if they were poisonous.

Snotlout, on the other hand, slammed the table in frustration. "Why read words when you can kill the stuff the words tell you about?" his gloating really annoyed Hiccup at that moment. Not that he wasn't annoyed, being humiliated both at the arena and at Gobber's meeting had already pushed him on edge. Being tired and soaked could only help so far his patience. Because of that, he responded to Snotlout without getting up or even looking at him, but making sure his voice reached the teens and, especially, him:

"Let me put I'm simple words for your tiny brain: if you don't read it, you don't know how to kill it. If you don't know how to kill it, you'll be killed. If you end up killed, you'll do me, the village and even Odin himself a great favor" his voice ended dripping so much sarcasm that it was venomous like a Nadder's spike to whoever heard it. When he came to reality after being surprised by how much venom and sarcasm he had let go, he turned to look at Gobber and the teens, which all held different faces.

Fishlegs had actually paled at his words, he pitied sometimes how the big teen could be easily scared; Ruff and Tuff were smirking so much that their faces would probably crack if they kept smirking, they were probably doing their best to not laugh at this very moment; Gobber was actually shocked at Hiccup's words and Snotlout looked plainly insulted by his words. Only Astrid held indifference, but he saw her eyes widened a little, as if she didn't expect Hiccup to speak so boldly. 'At least she paid attention to me this time' he thought bitterly, before finishing his chicken leg.

Finally, when Gobber moved to go out of the Hall, Snotlout replied:"Reading is for the weak, like you Useless. I'll go kill stuff" he then left the Hall. Fishlegs, after regaining his colors, excitedly said: "I've read it like 7 times. There's this dragon that buries you for, like, a week and…" but he never finished, as Tuff interrupted him with boredom written all over his face: "There was a tiny little chance that I actually was going to read it but…" "…But now…" his sister finished for him, both leaving the Hall after this. Fishlegs hurriedly got up, nearly knocking the bench he and Snotloud sat before. Gobber was also gone, so there was only Astrid and I left.

I cautiously moved toward the table and the book as well. "So, I guess we'll share then?" I said hopeful. She looked at me, weirdly, for a second, before pushing the book to me. "Read it" was all she said, though this time in a monotonous tone rather than her usual criticizing one. As controlling myself was being hard today, the urge to blurt out a question was stronger than me. A question I had long since wanted to ask her: "Why?" I muttered angrily and hurt.

Astrid froze in her place. She never expected him to talk back to her after that, much less ask her this question. Yes, the question as vague, but she knew well what he meant. She kept frozen in her place until Hiccup continued:"What happened? Why are you like that now?" his tone was so full of disbelief that it actually hurt a little. But she held herself strong, she knew Vikings had no feelings, she knew that Vikings could only be hurt in combat, but the part of her that she always oppressed ever since Hiccup begun his inventions had hurt deeply hearing the question she never wanted to hear.

Seeing Hiccup was rather bold at the moment, she knew she had to answer him that moment. She was already a little surprised at how Hiccup had spoken to Snotlout; after all he was usually sarcastic, but never so venomous when speaking, and now his boldness managed to scare her a little, though she would never admit it. A part of her knew the wimp wouldn't be able to hurt her, but another, the one slightly scared, was afraid of what might happen if she plainly ignored him. So she answered, almost whispering, after a long sigh:"We grew Hiccup…" and then she processed to leave the Hall.

_**ANIII: This chapter is dedicated to Kate Carpenter. May you recover quickly, and rise high and mighty from your sickness.**_

**_Until next time!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_AN: Hello fellow readers, and welcome again to another chapter of How To Become a Dragon Chief. I apologize for the long delay in publishing this chapter but somethings kept me from writing it, namely a writer's block caused by excessive homework._**

**_ANII (IMPORTANT): I'm also looking out for beta-readers for this story. If any of you is interested, let me know through a PM._**

**_FUNFACT: i found out i upload the file of this chapter some time ago, and simply forgot to upload it. I guess i do deserve some beating after that..._**

**_Without further ado:_**

**_.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-._**

He, meanwhile, was frozen in place. Not only because he realized he just had been boldly talking to the fierce Astrid Hofferson, but also that she had replied him with a whisper, as if she was afraid of him, and that she had spoken his name. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he heard her speak his name. So he stood there, frozen on spot, watching the Valkyrie leave the Hall.

He sighed in relief when she left the hall. He couldn't believe he had been that bold with Astrid, and for a second he bid goodbye to his life, thinking the Valkyrie would chop him to pieces at how harsh he was when addressing her. Considering her answer, a small part of him really wished that she had done that. It would probably have been less painful to endure…

He snapped out of his trance at the sound of the gigantic doors closing. He went to take a candle; it was late, which meant that the bonfire inside the hall would be extinguished soon. After finding one, he went back to the table where Gobber left the Book of Dragons sat and opened the book to study it, and perhaps find something about the Night Fury.

"Dragon classifications: Striker Class. Fear Class. Mystery Class" he began reading aloud, since no one was at the Hall anymore. "Thunderdrum; this reclusive Dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. This dragon can also be very protective of its kin. Tip: Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

Hiccup turned the page to study the next dragon. This time it was one that they had at the arena:"Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through fully grown tress. When engaged, he either shelters himself into a cocoon for defense using them, or when attacking he uses them like giant sharp battle axes. It is highly advised that you mustn't engage this dragon alone. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight"

He turned the page, and his eyes met the illustration of a dragon with a long neck and big belly with tiny legs. "Scauldron: This tidal dragon sprays scalding water at its victims instead of fire. Usually lives in the open ocean and is said that the species like Blue Oleander flowers. It is unknown whether the dragon is poisonous or not, considering the claims of different victims to be debatable. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight"

Hiccup begun then turning the pages, merely reading a few things beside the name of the dragons: "Gronckle. Zippleback. Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death. Snaptrapper. Stormcutter. Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turn its victims inside-out, kidnaps its victims. Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight" he continued scrolling the pages until he stopped at one:

It was rather bothering how most of them seemed to lack a deeper analysis of the dragons, instead opting to describe its attacking methods and leave a blunt, rather unhelpful tip such as 'extremely dangerous, kill on sight'. He continued scrolling the pages, merely looking at the illustrations, until he stopped at one:

"The White Fury." He whispered, shocked that the drawing of the dragon extremely resembled the Night Fury he met earlier, though with some differences. "Thought to be the unholy offspring of the Sun and death itself, thus related to the Night Fury, this dragon is known to either hide and ambush its victims in matter of seconds, thanks to its pair of wings and long back legs, or use the light of the Sun to blind its opponents before obliterating them with its hot red fire. Never engage this dragon alone. The few that survived such encounter alone had lost their minds. Run and pray it doesn't catch you and only attack him with an Armada or village at your side."

Hiccup paled, remembering that Gobber had mentioned said dragon at the beginning of the training. 'I hope he's not crazy enough to pit us against that' he hopefully thought, before scrolling to the last page of the book, almost devoid of writing and the only one to lack a proper drawing of the dragon.

"The Night Fury"

"Speed: Unknown; Size: Unknown. The unholy offspring of lighting and death itself; it produces a screech that rips the sky apart, striking fear among the hearts of both men and gods. Never engage this Dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you." he felt outraged, and then closed the book with disbelief. 'This must be wrong, that can't be the dragon I watched today.'

I put out the candle, and left the Hall going toward home. After I reached it, I went directly to my room, before sleeping. All along the way, I had the small feeling that dad wasn't having a better time than I at Hellheim's Gate.

The next day…

Hiccup and the teens approached the arena, now turned into a maze by Gobber. How had he done that in one night and probably all by himself nobody knew, but this was not the question in Hiccup's mind. Instead he, just when training started, went near Gobber to ask about the elusive dragon, considering how the book had been near to useless for him.

"So, I just happened to notice that the book had nothing on Night Furies" he called sheepishly Gobber, whom was teaching in his vantage point: beyond the chain cage that covered the top of the arena. "Is there another book about it? Or perhaps a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet Bork left?" he asked hopeful.

My obliviousness to the training was rewarded: my axe was melted with Nadder's fire, thus turning it into a fancy wood stick with a shining pointy end. "Focus Hiccup, yeh're not even trying" Gobber shouted, pointing to the Nadder that was climbing down the perch and closing on me. In a desperate attempt, I began running and twisting around to maze to out-speed the dragon. While almost impossible, I refused to give up on the hope that I could outrun a Nadder.

"Today's lesson is all about attack! Nadders are the quickest and lightest of all dragons on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter if yeh want to stay alive" 'which is nearly impossible' Hiccup finished inside his head. The logic of the maze was to try to sneak onto the Nadder while it was busy hopping around each corridor looking for us. He admired Gobber's tactic, but hated that they still had to 'learn on the job'.

Fishlegs was unfortunate to end up on a corridor where the Nadder was observing. After squeaking the dragon launched spikes from its tail at the chubby Viking, whom had barely managed to bring up his shield to block them. Fortunately none of them pierce his skin otherwise he would have a hard time enduring poison sickness.

"Who put you in charge? I'm really starting to question your teaching methods" he screamed while running from the dragon. I wondered why he didn't start questioning himself earlier. The first time Gobber taught me about smithing I was already wondering if the man wasn't an incarnation of Loki himself, or plainly made of pure madness.

"Look for its blind spot" Gobber idly advised, sounding as if he didn't give a care in the world about Fishlegs' complain." Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strike! Yeh should be fine after that" he said. "Though I can't guarantee yeh'll come out intact" he added while chuckling. Yup, he definitely was the incarnation of Loki.

Ruff and Tuff meanwhile managed to stumble face-to-face with the Nadder. Because of its giant horn at its nose, they were at the Nadders blind spot. As I was too far to hear them, I didn't know what caused them to fight each other, which in turn, alerted at the Nadder of their presence, who shot a steam of fire as soon as it was alerted. I could only hear Tuff screaming "Awesome, I've got a burn on my shoulder" as they both ran from the fire.

Gobber, on the other hand, chuckled "Blind spot yes, deaf spot, not so much. Death spot, though, totally nailed it" while finding amusement on the situation. I admit I'd find the situation hilarious if I wasn't being pursued by a giant flaming scaled bird. But of course, Gobber wasn't being followed by such creature, or was scrawny, so it only made sense that he would amused at our desperation.

As I was ready to continue questioning him, I heard someone whisper my name. When I looked behind me, I saw Astrid and Snotlout crouching behind the wall, while the Nadder stalked silently through the nearby corridor. "Get down!" she harshly whispered, and I complied it. This was not the time to be stupidly bold with the fearless Astrid, especially when she had her trusty axe with her.

As soon as the Nadder looked to another corridor, both Astrid and Snotlout rolled to the other side of the opening. With nothing to lose, I threw myself, and for a second I thought I'd make it. But I never finished the roll and felt to the ground awkwardly.

The Nadder's head snapped toward me as soon as it heard the sound of my shield hitting the floor, and instantly it was pouncing toward me. I got up to my feet and ran like Hel, passing through Snotlout and Astrid, who stepped to confront the dragon. Had they taken a little more time to step in, I was sure the Nadder would have caught me up. I was glad, though, that no one bothered to comment the highly un-manly scream that just escaped my mouth.

Astrid was about to throw her axe at the Nadder when he stepped in front of her. "Watch out babe, I'll take care of this" he stupidly and confidently said, trying to impress her, and threw his mace at the dragon. His aim was so off that I couldn't stop to chuckle, and I could swear the Nadder warbled what could be easily heard as a laugh, which was comical. Who would have thought his failure would be so amusing to watch that even the dragon would find it funny.

Astrid, meanwhile, took the opportunity that the Nadder was distracted and hit it with the dull side of her axe. We weren't allowed, yet, to kill the dragons, hence why she didn't use the sharp side of her axe. It mostly shook the Nadder, but also left a small cut at the left side of its jaw. Its laugh turned to a yelp at the sudden attack, and the Nadder screeched, running with full force toward the blond warrior in revenge.

Astrid ran from the Nadder, which in fury, was knocking down the whole maze. I watched as the walls before me came down and along with it a flying warrior screaming "Hiccuuuuuuuuup" before landing on me.

Next thing I knew, she was tangled on me and her axe had dug into my skin. It didn't feel deep enough to make me bleed deeply, but surely it was painful as Hel, since it was the sharp side that was digging in my ribs. My vision was a bit blurry from the blood coming out of my wound and because I had hit hard my head when she fell on me. I'd be dead if my shield hadn't been in the path of her axe, said shield that had now her axe stuck in.

From afar I heard the Twins calling "Ooooh, love on the battlefield, get a room you two." Tuff went, "She could do better...much better" Ruff finished. They were, apparently, oblivious to the axe digging in my chest, otherwise they would probably be snickering some comments about pain and battle scars. How could two people embody masochism so flawlessly was beyond me, and was honestly very scary.

Situation aside, I couldn't stop but notice how pretty she was up close when I heard that. She must have hear also, because she growled and placed her foot on my face, desperately trying to remove her axe from my shield as the Nadder got out of the scrambles and was zeroing on us. I bit my lip, because it hurt impossibly the moment her axe left my skin, and even more when she ripped off my shield from my grip, nearly fracturing my hand in the process.

Astrid didn't even notice Hiccup's status as she ripped the shield from him and hit her axe at the Nadder. The shield was torn apart at the attack, causing cuts throughout the Nadder's right side of the head. She didn't notice either the damage she did on the dragon, since surviving was the only thing inside her mind at that specific moment.

Nobody except Hiccup noticed the Nadder dazedly walk away, before collapsing at her cage, blood dripping all over the right side of its head. Had he been at better circumstances, he would have wondered why the dragon went willingly to its cage.

They didn't fare any better than the unconscious dragon. Ruff and Tuff had burn mark over their shoulders and back, Astrid had sprinkled her ankle when she fell on me and probably worsened it when she attacked the Nadder, Fishlegs was dazed a little as some of the spikes had somehow managed to cut his skins, thus injecting a little of its poison inside his blood and Snotlout was full of bruises as he had ran into some of the falling walls. But by far Hiccup suffered the worst; having an axe cut all through his chest bleeding and he couldn't move his right hand without hissing in pain. Unluckily, Astrid didn't notice that when she screeched at him:

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" she said while pointing her axe at me. Soon she stopped pointing it so she could use it as some sort of support to remove the pressure from her sprinkled ankle. "Our parent's war is about to become our own. Figure which side you're…" her voice faded as soon as she looked better at my condition. Fishlegs blacked out when he saw the blood, and the Twins were talking something among the lines of "Why does he get all the cool battle scars?" and "look at the blood coming off, awesome" while her eyes had widened as I never seen when she saw me.

I was about to answer her before I heard a familiar shout: "HICCUP!" Heather came as fast as a Night Fury and kneeled before me, looking at me almost the same way she looked when she was inspecting my leg after last raid. She gave me some cloth and sweetly said: "Here, put pressure on it. I hope it isn't a deep cut" she mumbled worriedly the last part.

I did as she said; using my good hand to do that, while looking at her. She stood up, anger flaring in her eyes, and shooting daggers at Astrid through her glare. " 'Figure which side you're on'?!" she sarcastically quoted Astrid while shouting. I winced a little, still not used to the idea of seeing one of the calmest people of the village losing her temper. When I glanced at Astrid, she had visibly paled, more than the rest. To me it wasn't surprising their reactions; I probably did the same when she shouted at me for the first time.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he sided with the dragons, given the allies he would have." She continued shouting before standing inches away from Astrid. Pointing her finger to me, she lowered her voice to what could be mistaken for a hiss of a Whispering Death: "You better hope it's not too serious, or you'll be off the training because I won't fix your ankle." She threatened, making the situation tenser.

"You can't do that!" Astrid protested. She stopped leaning on her axe and pointed it at Heather when she gave some distance between them. To everyone's surprise, Heather easily disarmed Astrid. Astrid felt, both because of her ankle and by being suddenly disarmed; and them Heather was the one pointing the axe to Astrid. "You wanna bet?" she dared her. I never saw Heather yielding a weapon, and seeing how scary she looked like holding Astrid's axe, I wished I never saw.

Astrid averted her gaze from the young healer and gave in. Dragon Training was too important to her, and she wouldn't be out of it because of some idiocy she did toward Heather's protected one. Satisfied with her answer, the raven haired girl huffed before tossing the axe aside and then went to grab a cane to give to Astrid. She always had a pair of canes nearby in case one of us had a leg injury after Dragon Training.

"Go to the hut, I'll attend you there later" she said, but nobody moved. "LEAVE" she yelled, and got everyone moving out of the arena. Fishlegs, who had just awaken, ran as fast as his little legs allowed, followed by a scared Snotlout and the Twins. Astrid was last, both because she was glaring daggers at Heather as well as she couldn't walk faster with the cane.

"Gobber, help me get him to the hut, I need to check how deep the wound is." She called to him, and then leaned closer to talk to me:"Keep the pressure on it, you'll be fine. Is there anywhere else you feel wounded or hurt?" she asked while periodically looking briefly at my eyes, when she was not searching for other wounds. "Right hand… I think it's broken…" it came out as a whisper since breathing was making the chest wound hurt.

She cautiously took my right hand to look at it. "Try to move it" I hesitated, but eventually did as she said. I managed to move it a little before hissing in pain. "Yep, it's not fractured, just bruised. Try not to move it too much, I'll fix it when we get to the hut" she said, placing her hand above the one that was putting pressure on the wound. Gobber soon arrived and gently took me in his arms.

The walk from the Arena to the healer's hut was a slow and silent one. I was thankful that Gobber mindfully walked slowly so my injuries didn't get worse. When we approached the hut Gobber whispered to me:"Remember to never get on her bad side, I had to change my undies when she shouted at Astrid" he paused for a second before finishing: "Yeh tell that to anyone, and yeh'll be fixing all the village's weapons next raid" I gulped and nodded. Helping Gobber fix them was already tiring, so fixing them all by myself would be an impossible feat for me to achieve.

We reached the hut and I saw the teens standing on a bench outside of it. Heather opened the door and gestured to Gobber bring me in. He paused and looked at them; "I'll give yeh all a couple of days off. Seems like the Nadder beat up yeh all pretty nicely." He chuckled a little, and then left me in one of the beds the healer had. He left, and Heather went out to tell the teens she would fix them after patching me up. She closed the door and went to place some herbs inside the cauldron, which had water ready to be heated. As she lit the fire to heat the water, she took a chair and sat near me.

Heather proceeded to remove Hiccup's tunic to inspect the wound, but said one grabbed her left hand before blurting out "What are you doing?" As soon as he did that, he hissed in pain again. Heather softly cooed him: "Shh, don't speak. It'll make the pain stronger. I have to remove your tunic to clean the wound Hiccup"

He blushed deeply after hearing this. In fact he blushed so deep that he was as red as a Monstrous Nightmare. The thought of being bare-chested to a woman was almost too much for the shy boy to handle after he heard the Twins teasing,even if said woman was his longtime best friend and had seen him bare-chested before. He hesitated for a while, before sighing deeply and giving Heather a nod. With her help, he removed his tunic and she proceeded to inspect the wound.

She looked at the axe cut while waiting for the water to boil so she could place it on the wound to heal. 'Thank Gods it's not deep' she thought. While it wasn't deep enough to be sewed, it could still bleed a lot if it wasn't properly bandaged. So, after she cleaned and passed the paste on it, she wrapped tightly some bandages around his chest.

After that she checked his hand. She noticed that his wrist was bruised, probably from the way Astrid ripped the shield off from his hand. She wrapped a pair of wood sticks around it with bandages so his movements were limited. "This is so you don't move it. It should be healed in a couple of days. Now try to get some sleep while I patch the others" she said as she noticed Hiccup was barely awake. She was also tired, and would gladly take a nap if she didn't have to patch the others. She sighed before going to the door. From there she called out the others to come in so she could patch them up.

Heather cleaned Fishlegs' cuts and gave him some medicine to counter the effects of the poison, then gave Snotlout a couple of ices to place at his bruises before she patched the Twins burns (against their will). Lastly she had Astrid's ankle wrapped with wood so the limited movement could heal it and gave her a cane to use while she had the wood on it. After exhaustingly patching them up she called Gobber to give a report about the teen's wounds. After he heard her, he called off Dragon Training for a few days, until everyone was healed enough to face the Zippleback.

The days passed in a blur. Hiccup rested in the Healer's hut, being every so often attended by Heather so his wound wouldn't be infected. The other teens also rested along the week, some visiting the healer more than other. Astrid couldn't train as long as she had to use the cane, and Snotlout's muscles were still sore from the banging he received on the Nadder training, also stopping him from training. The Twins were often visiting the Healer to be patched up, since every time they started fighting, they ended up worsening their burns. Even with Heather's warning they continued. The only one faring better was Fishlegs, the poison all but gone from him after a couple of days.

Because of that, when Heather attested he no longer needed medicine, he was found either in the Great Hall reading the Book of Dragons (again) or learning about herbs with Heather when she wasn't busy looking for Hiccup, or attending the other teens. His desire to know more about medical herbs helped take Heather's mind off from Hiccup, and she was glad to have something to distract her.

But one day was different from the others.

Astrid was heading toward the healer's hut. Heather had requested that she would come often so she could watch how her ankle was healing, and since Astrid wanted to be rid of the cane as soon as possible so she could go back training with her axe she complied without complaining. When she was at the door, she could hear two voices discussing inside.

Knowing that the only ones inside were Hiccup and Heather, she didn't knock or open it, opting to eavesdrop on their conversation. Everyone knew how they were close to each other, Hel Heather's reaction at the arena was proof of that, but she wanted to know more of the relation between the healer's apprentice and the chief's son. She had been surprised at how fiercely she defended the boy, and wanted to see how close they were.

"Why can't I go outside? I already feel better" Hiccup's unmistakable voice soared through the hut and, although it sounded weak, it escaped the hut loud enough for Astrid to hear it. "Your wound still not good enough, besides you lost a lot of blood, both from the wound of the Nightmare and Astrid's axe. You were barely awake these days because of that, and if one of your stunts open these wounds, you'll have lost too much blood to the point that you'll be beyond healing." Heather's said, answering his question.

Astrid felt a pang of guilty at hearing Heather's shaking voice. She knew Hiccup had injured himself badly at the raid, but she never thought the wound she accidentally gave him would extend the damage. Heather's voice was shaken even though it was muffed by the door. She would speak loudly then lower her voice, then speak loud again, as if Heather's emotions were controlling her voice. That only increased the guilt she felt inside her.

She took a couple of deep breaths, and was almost knocking the door when she heard Hiccup talk again: "Ok them, if you say so… I just hope I won't be stuck in this bed forever. Besides, I'm kin… of feelin… sleepy ri…" she couldn't hear the end of it as Hiccup's voice became a whisper. For a second she paled, thinking the boy was gone, but Heather's voice confirmed otherwise:"Shh, just a day or two and you'll be out. Now get some rest, your body still needs it."

Astrid waited a few seconds; after all she had only been at the hut when Hiccup was asleep and today wasn't going to be different. She would never admit, but she couldn't face him, at least not until he recovered from the injury, and the conversation she overheard only made the idea of facing him nearly become unbearable to her. Gravely injuring a comrade in battle was a serious issue, whether it was intentional or not. And right now she couldn't muster the courage of apologizing to him while he was still recovering.

She sighed deeply, and then knocked lightly. A low voice made sure she could go inside, being only loud enough for her to hear, but low enough to not awake Hiccup. She sat on a chair so Heather could exam her ankle, and while she did, Astrid couldn't stop but look at the auburn-haired boy sleeping soundly at the nearby bed. "So how's my ankle?" it was the first thought that came to her head at the moment.

"Its healing fine, maybe tomorrow you won't need the cane anymore…" a big smile appeared on her face. Heather saw it and finished what she was saying:"… but you won't be able to train. Your body will need a couple of days to get used walking without the cane" her smile didn't entirely vanished, but it grew smaller at the news. Still, she was optimistic about the situation.

Before Heather could clear her out; she didn't want to be near Astrid unless it was absolutely necessary since the incident, Astrid asked something she didn't think she would, her voice barely loud enough to be heard by the girl in front of her:"So… how's he doing?" At first Heather was surprised, she never expected that Astrid would ask about him, injured or not.

But soon the shock became suspiciousness, as she eyed Astrid carefully. "Why do you care?" She wanted to know why Astrid asked about him all of a sudden before answering her.

The blond warrior, seeing the suspicious glare at her, quickly thought of some excuse to say. She would never admit to her that the part of her which cared about Hiccup and their lost friendship, that she so harshly hid all these years, had just blurted out because of her guilt trip. She also wasn't a liar either, so she thought the least embarrassing to the situation would be to tell Heather that…"I overheard you talking before knocking. You know, about his wounds..."

Heather eyed the girl for a few more seconds, before sighing heavily and leaning her back on the chair. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her right hand, before answering the blond before her:"He's healing well; the cut wasn't too deep to cause serious damage to him. But because he lost too much blood, he's been sleeping most of the week. I think he'll be able to go out tomorrow, but I'll still need to keep a close eye on him. He had too many close calls lately…" and the girl's voice trailed off. Either she got sad about the idea of Hiccup not being able to bail out of an injury, or she was deep in thoughts.

Astrid soon found out which one when Heather spoke again, this time changing the topic: "What happened between you two?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

**_ANIII: there we go, a chapter longer than usual as my apologize for my long delay. Unfortunately i must inform you all that my 'schedued publishing' will go froom weekly to a chapter per two weeks, due to the increasing homework i'm facing. I also want to try to keep my grammar mistakes to a minimum, so that's another reason to why i'll take longer to publish._**


	10. Chapter 10

_**AN: Hello there fellow readers. I am sorry for the delay. I was supposed to post this chapter last weekend but I had to go do my medical exams and vote. Anyway i would also like to thanks for the new followers and favs this story i have received; I also would like to tell you that reviews are much appreciated. I don't really look up to how many reviews this story has, but i appreciate each one that is written because i want to know your opinions about the story, what you guys expected, and what you all think i could improve, either gramatically speaking or in a particular sub-plot of the story. That said don't hesitate to leave a review even if you think you're sounding a bit harsh.**_

_**WIthout further ado:**_

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What happened between you two?"

The question surprised her more than she showed. Of all the things she expected to hear Heather ask, heck she even expected to be asked why she had been so harsh with Hiccup back then at the Arena, she didn't expected that the young healer would ask of her past with Hiccup. Astrid didn't even think that anyone remembered that she and the chief's son had been great friends a long time ago…

"I mean… you both seemed to be very close friends when younger, and sometimes he lets that out while sleeping, though I don't think he knows that…" a part of her wasn't surprised with this. After all it's been only a few days since Hiccup was bold enough to ask the same.

But, this time it was a different situation. She knew Heather wouldn't buy her stupid answer, and that she couldn't escape the question. A million thoughts rushed through her mind of how she would answer that without speaking too much. Even she didn't quite know what happened…

Heather observed Astrid's face that looked like as if she was in deep thoughts because of her question. She knew it would be both pointless and painful to ask Hiccup about that. He would blame himself for 'not being good friend enough' and that cute smile he always had when with Heather would vanish. Then he would subtly steer away from her question without truly answering it. Her only hope was that Astrid would be honest and straightforward with her…

"I won't tell anyone, not even him, that we had this conversation, if that's what you're worried about…" Astrid looked at her, indicating that she indeed listened to what she said, but remained silent. A thought came to Heather's mind. She knew how to get people curious, but also knew that was a dangerous game to play…"Well… let's do this way: you answer my question, and I'll tell you something you don't know."

Astrid beamed at the idea 'what could possibly she know that I don't know?' it was a dangerous game to play, and Heather was quite known to play those. She somehow always managed to know something people would often try to hide, and it was because of this that the older Vikings both respected her and, to a certain extent, feared her. Besides Stoick Heather was the person that knew the most what happened in Berk.

There was also the risk that Heather could not be honest entirely with her. She could also lie to her, but she was only believed in being honest. "Okay then, I'll tell you, but you'll have to tell me something I don't know. It won't count if I already know it" she waited until Heather nodded. When the girl nodded, she sighed heavily before speaking.

There was also the risk that Heather could not be honest entirely with her. She could also lie to her, but she was only believed in being honest. "Okay then, I'll tell you, but you'll have to tell me something I don't know. It won't count if I already know it" she waited until Heather nodded. When the girl nodded, she sighed heavily before speaking.

"I don't quite know what happened. We begun to grow up and have responsibilities. Everyone started having training the basics. I trained the hardest since I wanted to be a shield-maiden and I knew only the fiercest warriors would become one. He, on the other hand, never succeeded at the training. Instead he became Gobber's apprentice, though that was ok with me. I think we begun to drift away when he begun doing his inventions. At first most of us went along with him, but soon it was clear that it always ended in trouble and someone getting injured."

"When he lost his mother at that raid…" she briefly saw Heather gaze's move away. She paused for a second as Heather looked back, nodding, indicating she was still listening. "He and his father got distant after that. Everyone could see that. And this only made him more obsessive with killing a dragon, therefore making he build more dangerous inventions. We definitely parted away when those begun to cause damage to the village each time he tested, since no one wanted to be associated with that. Since then everyone knows that whatever he builds will end up destroying something" she left the part that he and her had gotten close ever since, she didn't want to spoil her chance of knowing something she didn't know, but Heather did.

Astrid didn't mention that she trained harder than all the others or that her harsh training was so she could top the Dragon Training to restore honor to her family. Not to mention she wanted to avenge the death of her Uncle Finn, and Hiccup was a painful reminder to when she let her guard down and looked pitifully weak when sobbing on his arms.

Heather listened to the entire speech, and couldn't help but agree with Astrid, even if just in a little. Hiccup took hard the loss of his mother, much as Heather did. But when the chief began to get distant from his son, Hiccup became obsessive with proving his father that he was worthy of his attention. She suspected he'd be even more reckless if she hadn't befriended him when he lost their friendship, but now it was practically confirmed to her that.

She sighed again before speaking up. To Heather it seemed that this was a subject Astrid didn't like to venture into… "Well, you kept your end of the deal. I guess it's fair I do my part of it" Astrid's suspicious glare softened at the statement, but she still eyed Heather carefully, as if she looked away the girl would vanish. She wouldn't risk letting her guard down, after all, she told her something only Ruffnut knew.

"Do you remember when you got your axe?" Astrid was confused with the question. 'What kind of game is she playing?' was the first thought that came. She was going to protest against the question, but decided that she would play along, for now.

"Yes, I do, what's with it?" her tone was slightly suspicious, but she was hopeful Heather didn't notice it. "Do you remember who built it?" now she was getting frustrated. Heather was supposed to tell her something she didn't know, not interrogate her, and the young healer's calm posture only increased Astrid's frustration. "Yeah… My mom had asked Gobber to build an axe for me when I almost broke the one she gave. He took longer than usual, but I guess he wanted it good since he and mom are friends"

Heather was smirking, and that got Astrid's frustration out of her. "Why with all the questions about my axe? You were supposed to tell me something I didn't know!" she threw her hands in the air, no longer worried about keeping hidden her frustration. Heather gave a small laugh at the scene; not everyone could make Astrid Hofferson get frustrated. Eventually the girl calmed down, allowing her to speak.

"Gobber did not make your axe Astrid… Hiccup did" she said softly, and almost laughed when she saw Astrid's shocked and puzzled face looking to her. It took the blonde a couple of minutes to wrap around the idea so she could say anything. "Wha… how is that possible. Gobber gave me the axe himself and told me he did it." She was already getting angry. If Heather was lying, she would skin the girl alive.

"I know he did, I was nearby when he gave you. But, you see, he did this because Hiccup asked so. Gobber was going to test him to see if he had reached the end of his blacksmithing apprenticeship, and when your mother asked Gobber to make your axe, she gave him the perfect opportunity to test Hiccup's skills. He was pouncing of enthusiasm when he told me that Gobber asked him to make his first axe. I barely saw him for the following days; Gobber told me Hiccup was working day and night on the axe, and the only moments I saw him were when he came here because he had injured himself at the forge."

"But the moment I finished patching him up he would returned there. You were right, it did take longer than usual to make one because Hiccup was, and sort of still is, a scrawny boy. So he couldn't pounder the hammer as strongly as Gobber, but he sure does it as precisely as his former master does. When he finished it and gave to Gobber, he was astonished at Hiccup's craftsmanship. I was with Hiccup at the moment, and he was smiling so much at Gobber's compliment that I thought his face would crack in two."

"But when Gobber told him to whom the axe was for, he made Gobber promise him to keep secrecy that he made the axe. He was puzzled at the request, not understanding why Hiccup would keep secret something that would make Stoick proud of him, but complied anyway. I, on the other hand, saw his enthusiasm leave him, and given I knew somewhat that you and him had been friends when younger, I understood his reasons; though I didn't say anything at the moment. He didn't want you to reject the axe just because it was him that built it."

Astrid was the entire conversation frozen with shock. Only after Heather finished talking she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Of course, she knew Hiccup never gave up on their friendship; that was her doing like she just told Heather. She also knew Hiccup still liked her, his questioning on the Great Hall was pretty much proof of that, but she never thought he'd do something like that. Even if at the beginning the axe was for a stranger, he restlessly worked on it. Not just that, but she also knew how desperate he was to get his father's approval, and yet he gave up having the merit of doing something rightly so she wouldn't reject the axe.

She looked back at the sleeping boy, bare-chested as Heather probably had changed his bandages before he slept. Though he was skinny as Heather said, she could see faint outlining of muscles around his arms and shoulders, probably from years of blacksmithing. She blushed a little at the thought that she was looking a half-naked Hiccup and she turned to look away.

She saw Heather also gazing him, but unlike her, the healer's apprentice did not even slightly blushed. 'Probably this isn't the first time she sees him, or a bare-chested man at all' she thought, then because of that thought, something that was bothering her came back.

When Heather saw her blush and smirked at it, Astrid tried even harder to hide it, and worked even quicker to ask the girl what was bothering her since the Nadder training. "Heather, do you like Hiccup?" she asked somewhat hurriedly, desperately trying to sway away the Heather's gaze. It worked. As soon as she asked it, Heather looked away and this time she was the one blushing.

"O-of course I do, he's my best friend after all" the blush fainted, but Astrid's smirk did not. She knew Heather knew what she meant, but was trying to avoid it. "Not like this. Heather, do you have a crush on him?" this time she did not blush, even if the question was more direct than the last one.

She sighed, and shrugged: "I don't know, honestly…" Astrid didn't wait for that, and was a bit shocked. 'How does she doesn't know, either you have or don't have.' She didn't press on, the girl sounded like she would continue speaking. "He's been also my only family all those years. Yes it do pain me each time he gets hurt, I do feel happy when I am with him, but I never stopped to think about that. I don't really know if I see him like that, and honestly I don't think he does either." And then, for the first time since Astrid entered the hut, silence fell over it.

"I do think he likes you though…" she added in a whisper, but Astrid heard it clearly. "The way he looks at you sometimes, I don't think it's how you would look at a lost childhood friend" Astrid was surprised at the idea, but didn't show it. 'Could it be true? That he didn't see her only as a lost friend, but as a crush as well?' she played a little with the idea inside her mind.

Of course, boys had been hit on her since when she became a teen, just like they did with Heather. But even though she was pretty, they wouldn't hit on her if she wasn't, she was fierce, and that eventually got them away from her. Well, Snotlout aside. But no, she served all her relations with him, and even though she wanted to thank him for the axe because of her new found respect at him, she didn't like the idea that Heather could tell him the fierce Hofferson had blushed looking at him bare-chested.

"This conversation dies here, not a word about it to anyone, including him" she said strongly to Heather, making clear her point. The girls eyed each other, before Heather nodded. "I guess it's fair. I trust you won't say anything either, hmm?" Astrid nodded, relieved that one of the few girl's talk she ever had would stay hidden.

Heather, meanwhile, wanted to be alone a while. This would be the last day she could be sure the boy wasn't putting himself in danger and she also wanted to think about the whole conversation. Honestly she expected that Astrid would at least say she'd thank him later for the axe, but then again, nobody in the village wants to be associated with the village's nuisance. Well, almost nobody…

"So, I guess I can go already? Or is there something else you need to check on me?" Heather was kicked out of her thoughts by the sudden question. She absently nodded the girl, and felt a huge wave of relief when said girl closed the door after leaving.

What neither knew was that their conversation had awakened Hiccup, and he had listened to all of it. He felt a wave of emotions pounce at him. Hurt; Anger; Sorrow; Guilty; Betrayal; Fear. Too many feelings to be listed that moment. Hurt that Astrid wouldn't even say something now that she knew he made the axe; Betrayal that Heather had told her this, even though he said neither her or Gobber ever should; Guilty that his desire to please his father drifted away all his friends; Sorrow of all the time ago when he and Astrid were friends; Fear that Heather had a crush on him; of course, she was astoundingly beautiful, but he saw her more of a sister, even a motherly figure sometimes. His heart, on the other hand, belonged only to Astrid.

Of all this, one thought stuck, determinate above all the other: 'I will see the Night Fury again'

The next day…

Hiccup was beyond happy. He'd finally be able to leave the hut today. Heather had cleared him out, stating that his wound has almost closed. Heather strongly recommended he wouldn't do anything that could reopen it. Because of that, dragon training would only start the next day. Hiccup left the hut, telling Heather he would be at the forge writing some new ideas of equipment to use at Training.

He wasn't lying, though. He would do that if he came out alive from his encounter with the imprisoned dragon. He took his shield, and a pair of fishes to bring the dragon. It has been a week since Hiccup last saw him and if what he had seen the last time was reoccurring, then the dragon didn't leave it nor had much to eat.

He strolled through the forest, passing by the familiar broken trees, and the location where he first met him. The blood he lost was dried, slowly being consumed by the forest, and his cut ropes were untouched, a constant reminder of the day his he faced death and survived, and the same day his views about dragons begun to be questioned.

I neared the small entrance to the cove. Normally a Viking would be too big to go through the rocks standing in it, but luckily, that wasn't my case. I held the shield in front of me; after all I was still unsure if the dragon would attack. He might have a grudge against me, considering I kind of stabbed him when we first met so it's better safe than sorry I guess.

But, by some joke of the Gods, the shield stuck between the boulders, and there it remained. I tried unsuccessfully to remove it before stepping under it while holding the pair of salted fish. They were my only shield against him now. I hope his hunger would be greater than his desire to maul the Viking that downed him.

.

.

.

I was hidden. The sudden noise at the cove's small opening indicated someone would be coming. I couldn't fly, and had eaten little since I first felt here. The few fish that lived in the pond were gone, and they were far from the big ocean fishes I usually ate. I was at the top of a boulder, lying low, so this way I could see the intruder and remain unseen. My nose immediately caught the scent of fish, as I heard a splash on the ground. Everyone knows fishes don't fly, so I concluded it could only be a trap. Despite the growing in my stomach, urging to desperately eat that fish, I remained at my current position.

Hiccup had thrown one of the fish while holding the other. But the dragon didn't appear. 'Perhaps it managed to leave' he thought, but quickly denied it. He wanted to know more about him; understand him and understand why the dragon didn't kill him the two times they had met. He slowly crept toward the fish and picked it up before looking around the cove. Unfortunately Hiccup didn't see the dragon. The same, though, couldn't be said about said dragon.

'It was that hatchling again! Why is he so insistent?' was my first thought. 'I should give him some credit; he sure is different from the others. After all who would meet their enemy and feed them?' I leapt away from the boulder and cautiously stalked toward him. He jumped a bit, startled at my presence. I could smell fear coming from him. The scent was faint, but was there. Curiously I could also smell curiosity coming from him, curiosity about me. I sniffed at the fish, pleased that it didn't hold any poison. I jumped back, growling, when I smelt blood, my blood, and iron.

The young Viking was startled at the sudden growl. One second he was searching for him and the next the Night Fury nearing him to eat the fish. Then all of a sudden he backed away with slit eyes and in a combat posture. Hiccup shrunk his extended arm to hold both fishes, and with his free hand he brushed it against the fur coat to show a dagger to him. 'Of course, he must have seen it or smelt the blood in it.' He thought, knowing that he hadn't had the chance to wash it since that day. The Night Fury growled when he saw it, confirming his suspicious. Slowly Hiccup made a move to grab it and toss away, and then…

I saw the hatchling going for it. A part of me knew he wasn't in a battle stance, nor they way he grabbed it was to attack. But I am a Dragon, and this moment my instincts got the best of me. I leapt on him, and pinned him down to the ground hard. His weapon flew into the lake and he dropped the pair of fishes. The way the weapon flew confirmed he wasn't holding it strongly enough to attack me. As soon as I heard a 'blop' I felt ashamed I acted without thinking.

.

.

.

I was suddenly on the ground. I was almost dropping the dagger on the ground when he pinned me down, and now I felt a huge pain in the chest. I had closed my eyes in fear, but now that I could open it, I saw the look in his eyes. He probably did that out of instinct, so I couldn't exactly blame him. 300 years of war, and suddenly you enemy tries to feed you would make anyone suspicious. Not to mention he must have smelled his blood on the blade, making he be on edge.

.

.

I looked at him, hoping he would at least forgive my irrational act. He didn't make any aggressive action after all and it was dishonoring to attack someone outside of combat (unless when hunting). I removed my paw from his chest, only to find it with blood. I smelled it. It wasn't my blood, it was his…

The pain Hiccup felt lowered a little after the dragon removed his paw from his chest, but then he saw him sniffing at it. His vision was suddenly getting blurry, and, worried, Hiccup looked to his chest. Despite not being able to see it clearly he lifted his shirt only to find the wound Astrid's axe had caused opened up. 'I guess it was getting used to have a wound opened every time I see him.' He mused, not bothering straightening his shirt when he looked back at the apologetic dragon before passing out (again).

I saw the hatchling pass out. Though, unlike last time, I actually felt guilty for making that. He came here, probably to share his food with me. Yes, he was armed, but he hadn't shown any signals of aggression when he saw me, only curiosity. And I'm sure that, if he wanted to attack me, he wouldn't have come alone. I made sure that on our last encounter I made clear that I was not to be underestimated. So I did what I had done last time, I licked his wound until the bleeding stopped. I leapt to the boulder I watched him come, and stood there, waiting for him to wake up and see his reaction.

After a couple of hours passed, the dragon thought he had killed the human. Though he didn't know, he suspected it happened because of blood loss. Every dragon knew that, if one would lose too much blood from a wound, he would be beyond help. So, when he saw Hiccup move lightly, he was glad that he didn't kill him. Though, he was still wary of the little Viking, even if he was unarmed.

Hiccup woke up dizzily, putting his hand at his head. He felt a huge headache, and the world was a bit blurry to him just like it had been before he passed out. After his vision cleared out, he saw that it had passed some time since he first entered the cove, and that he wasn't bleeding anymore. That could be explained by the thick coat of saliva that was on him. He slowly sat, his head spinning momentarily, but this time he didn't pass out. He looked around and found the elusive dragon watching him at the boulder he was earlier.

Afraid of what the dragon would do; after all, it's not like its every day a 300-year old enemy comes to feed you, he made slow movements. Taking the fish, and getting up, he extended one of his arms to offer the fish, eyes never leaving the dragon.

The dragon hesitantly leapt down, moving toward Hiccup and the fish. He noticed the dragon's eyes were not slit, but rather dilated. He held the other fish closer to him, as if it would protect him in case the dragon wanted to crisp him to death. The dragon paced slowly, eyes focused on the fish as if he hadn't eaten for days. If he failed at fishing, like the first time Hiccup had seen him when he found the Night Fury at the cove, this was probably true.

The dragon opened his mouth and froze for a second, briefly looking to Hiccup then at the fish again, as if he was hesitant to eat the fish. Hiccup meanwhile took the opportunity to look at its mouth. "You're toothless? I could have sworn you had…" and then retractable teeth appeared out of nowhere on the dragon's mouth and in a second the fish was gone from Hiccup's mouth.

He jumped back a little at the sudden action, examining his hand to find any missing fingers. "…teeth" he finished in a whisper. When he saw that all 5 were there he sighed gladly. He turned to look at the dragon eyeing him, no, eyeing the fish he held on his other hand. Just like last time he slowly extended his arm to offer the fish. But, unlike last time, the dragon took the fish in a smoother way, with no abrupt moves. Hiccup felt a little easier by that, but his uneasiness soon came back as the dragon started sniffing his hands.

Out of fear, he retracted his arm and slowly crept away from the sniffing dragon. He tripped in a rock, but kept creping anyway until his back. He shrank his arms and legs to himself, as if he could hide in them from the approaching dragon. Seeing him at point blank he whispered: "Please, I don't have any more. And I'm sure I'm not succulent." His sarcasm showing he never failed to appear at dire situations.

I stopped in my tracks, completely surprised by what I just heard. The hatchling didn't just come to feed me; he gave up of his own food to quiet my hunger, like a mother would do to her offspring. I felt like I should returned the favor, so I backed away slightly and begun regurgitating a piece of one of the fishes to give to the hatchling.

Hiccup eyed the dragon as it backed away and did some weird sounds, before a splat sound announced the head of a half-digested, saliva-coated cod in his lap. He made a disgusting noise as he heard a thud. He then looked toward the Night Fury to find it sitting before him like a human, and with an expectant look in his eyes.

He stood there, sitting and looking at the hatchling. 'Why won't he eat it?' he asked himself, confused as Hiccup stood frozen as a rock. 'Perhaps he doesn't know what to do' he reasoned, and then proceeded to alternate his gaze between Hiccup's eyes and the fish.

Hiccup stood there, unsure of what to do. After a couple of seconds thinking what course of action would be the best, or at least get him out of this situation alive, he was brought back to reality as he saw the Night Fury's eyes alternate between. He blinked, and then it clicked inside his head. 'He wants me to eat the fish' he thought disgusted at the idea of eating raw, saliva-coated fish.

"Seriously…?" he asked in a whisper, afraid that he would insult the dragon. He was both relieved and sick that the dragon nodded, as if it understood the meaning of the question. He groaned before slowly raising the fish toward his mouth. He had a bit of trouble biting the fish, since it wasn't cooked. He made an approving sound and motioned the fish to the dragon, hoping to fool him so he didn't need to swallow the fish.

I eyed him, annoyed that he didn't swallow it. 'Either human hatchlings are dumb or he doesn't want it.' I decided to swallow visibly, indicating what I was expecting the human to do. To be honest I was quiet pleased that he did understand me by giving a somewhat desperate look before complying. Curiously I saw his face inflate as he tried to swallow it and he capped his hand at his mouth before trying to swallow again. 'Was this how Vikings normally eat?' I wondered. They surely are a weird kind of creature.

He swallowed again, this time hoping the food would go down. He shrugged when he succeeded at it, and saw the dragon do a smacking noise with his mouth, as if asking if it was good. Hiccup gave a toothy grin at the dragon, hoping it would be a satisfactory response to him. He was totally surprised when the dragon tried to mimic his action, pretty much like when it tilted his head when he did a week ago.

He suddenly felt an urge to touch the dragon, to show him he wasn't a threat. And now it looked like the best chance he would have. The dragon hadn't moved, nor was he in a defensive position. His ears were high and his pupils dilated, showing he was comfortable at the moment. Hiccup slowly stood and leaned toward the dragon, arm extended and hand moving for his face.

But the idea failed. The dragon's eyes constricted. They weren't slit like, but neither were they the puppy look he just had. With a motion he bared his teeth and growled, before retreating to the other side of the pond. Finding a location to nap, he shot a continuous stream of fire at the ground, scorching it, before lying down and curling. Hiccup, feeling he would not have another chance to show the dragon he could be trusted, made his way toward the dragon.

As he approached him, the dragon looked at him with annoyance, before covering his face with his tail. Hiccup, seeing the dragon was not watch him, tried once again to touch him, only to be caught in act. He lowered his hand slowly while speaking "I won't hurt you, you can trust me." But the only response he got from the charcoal dragon was a scoff before he laid his head at the ground.

Groaning in frustration and defeat, he passed his hand at his hair. Not knowing what to do, but refusing to leave without gaining the dragon's trust, he retreated and sat on a boulder near the lake. He saw through the corner of his eye the dragon hang himself upside down by its tail at the branch of the tree, much like an oversized bat. Adding his jet-black color and its name, the description was almost perfect for it.

Hours passed as both living creatures stood away from one another. The dragon was sleeping, hanging by the tree branch, and Hiccup was mindlessly drawing at the ground with a stick, every 10 minutes or so scratching his drawing before he start doing another one. He was trying to think of anything to convince the dragon that he could be trusted, but no ideas came to him. He thought drawing would trigger an idea, but so far he was proven wrong.

The dragon woke up and, as he laid sight at the same human that fed him, he was quite surprised to find him at the cove. The sun was already in the horizon, the sky a beautiful mix of orange and blue. 'He is quite the stubborn one' he thought to himself, after all, it was been quite a while since he went to take a nap. Curious at the movements of the hatchling's arm, he slowly crept to see what he was doing.

Hiccup was still mindlessly drawing, but this time it was the Night Fury's face. It was the only thing he could think that he hadn't drawn yet. When he saw a shadow move at his left, he tensed, knowing the dragon was observing him, but did not look back. Instead he finished his drawing, quite pleased at the results.

The Night Fury, meanwhile, was observing the stick's movements that made a series of lines. He instantly recognized it as a drawing of himself. He retreated to grab a tree branch to mimic the boy's behavior, pretty much like he did with the fish and the head tilt. He began drawing lines, and in the middle of the process he accidentally hit the hatchling's head with the branch.

Hiccup barely noticed the shove the dragon gave him with the branch because he was too dumbfolded, looking at what he was doing. He stood once the dragon finished, observing the apparently nonsense bunch of lines drawn in the dirt. Soon he remembered the dragon was displaying a mimicking behavior just like before. Perhaps it recognized himself at Hiccup's drawing and tried to draw Hiccup. He chuckled, seeing that the dragon failed at it, but nonetheless he was still impressed that the dragon did try in the first place.

Heproceeded to move away from the drawing when he suddenly heard a growl. He looked at the dragon, which was in an attack stance, and stepped back. He was confused when the dragon stopped growling at him and looked down. He saw a line of the drawing in front of him and stepped in. As soon as the dragon began growling he removed his foot from the line. Suspecting that the dragon thought he was offending his drawing he stepped once more. When the dragon growled at him and scrapped at the ground, he confirmed his suspicious and removed his foot, noticing the dragon was losing its patience with him and was ready to pounce at him.

The dragon was at the brink of tackling the hatchling, damn it if it was going to destroy his drawing or wound the hatchling. He was extremely offended that the human was stepping in his masterpiece that he so proudly did. When he saw the human step over the line, the dragon did a sound that could be mistaken as a draconic sigh. But soon the dragon was mesmerized at the sight before him: the human was bouncing around, almost dancing, while avoiding the lines of his drawing. He was so focused on that the he didn't notice that, when he stopped, he was inches away from him.

Hiccup was too focused avoiding the dragon's drawing. And was also having fun avoiding then. He only noticed where he and the dragon were when he felt a hot breeze at his neck. He slowly turned to see the dragon looking at him. His breath was caught in his throat as he realized how easily he could be killed. But somehow Hiccup saw no malice behind the dragon's eyes, only curiosity. With his own curiosity peeking up he slowly lifted his arm to touch him, but was welcomed with a small snarl. Although this time it wasn't aggressive, but more heedful, as if this should happen at the dragon's pace, not his.

Hiccup stopped to think for a second, before extending his arm and lowering his gaze. He was taking a leap of faith with letting the dragon decide whether he would accept his offer or hurt him. He closed his eyes, waiting for any action. One side of him was worried he would feel excruciating pain from having his hand eaten like Gobber's, while another side was hopeful to feel the touch of those smooth scales.

He stood with his eyes closed for what felt like hours, his insides slowly getting torn in half by what either parts of him expected. His anxiety was as high as the Halls of Valhalla. His breathing was slowly getting uneven and he was starting to feel dizzy because of it. Nonetheless, he refused to move away. He wanted this, and would only take action once his fate was decided by the dragon.

He stood there, watching Hiccup. When he saw his hand closing on him, he left out a small snarl. He did want to trust the human, but a part of him was hesitant and cautious, still feeling uneasy about the idea of trusting a human, his longtime enemy. But another part knew this was no ordinary human.

He didn't smell fear, or dragon blood, or hatred, or anger; just curiosity and wonder and, although a bit faint but present, a need to be accepted, to trust and be trusted. The Night Fury wishes that he knew what this human's story was. He didn't smell the scent of his kin, only his sire. He could smell a bit of loneliness, a small longing to be accepted. All of his years, he never met a hatchling with such scents. He had known a lot of dragon hatchlings, and was even able to smell human hatchlings from afar; and yet, none was like him.

When he saw him extend his arm and lower his gaze, fully trusting the elusive dragon, his hesitant side lost the battle inside him. Slowly approaching the human's hand, he sniffed it a couple of times, noticing the human was getting anxious, but stood still nonetheless. After a couple of seconds, he made his decision. A decision that would change his and Hiccup's life forever, and unbeknown to them, both dragon and Viking's history.

Hiccup, when he felt the soft and warm touch in his hand, almost recoiled in fear that he was being burned. But he didn't move, as soon as he noticed the absence of pain. Not knowing if removing his hand would offend the dragon's trust, he slowly opened his eyes to look at the dragon. The most majestic and fearsome dragon known to Vikings was right there, eyes closed and snout touching his hand, signaling he had been deemed worthy of the dragon's trust. Once the dragon opened his eyes, they met each other's gaze; but this time there were no fear, no hesitation, and no distrust from a bloody war. In each other's gaze there was only acceptance, trust.

At this very moment, a bond was created. Both dragon and human felt a strange feeling inside them, as if a door was opened, a door to a friendship. But this was no ordinary friendship. It was a special one, one that begun when a dragon trapped by bolas and wounded by the dagger of a human, and a human wounded by a wood debris and the brute force of a dragon spared each other; a bond born out of the curiosity of a Night Fury and the wonder of a misfit.

It was a connection that rose from the Dragon War, and set aside any and all grudges and resentment each could have. At this very trice, a forbidden friendship was born. Both of them knew that, and neither could care less...

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

**_ANII: there we go... my longest chapter yet as a way to apologize for my delay i choose to take a deep insight of the bond formed rather than drastically change this scene because i felt this is the highlight of the movie, and whatever fanfic written during the movie shouldn't change too much it. Do let me know of what you all thought regarding my insight through your reviews, i'd love to hear your opinions._**

_**Also i have a question to you all: would you rather wait half of a month to get a long chapter such as this or a week for a smaller chapte?**_

_**This is actually one of the parts of my fic i am mostly proud of, mainly because the entire scene just came out instantly one day.**_

**_And lastly, for all of those wondering whether Heather liked Hiccup or not, this chapter gives a clue to how her feelings toward him will be later in the story_**

**_Until next time!_**


End file.
